Nate's Choice
by xxHeadInTheStarsxx
Summary: Is it wrong to be in love? Is it wrong to be in love with the person you hate? Is it wrong to be in love with two girls whom happen to be best friends? Who will he choose, the girl he loved first or the girl he can't stop loving? MileyNateAlex
1. Chapter 1

_"When you see my face hope it gives you hell, gives you hell"  
_Gives You Hell by All American Rejects

She had it all. She gets whatever she wants. She has whatever she needs. The whole dang world practically revolves around her, putting the sun away to its shame. She's has all the boys and the girls wrapped around her finger. People would do so much to at least have the privilege to kiss her feet. Girls would kill to be in her spot. Boys would go through desperate measures to be her boyfriend. Everyone treats her like a princess. No one even thinks about messing with her. Perfection is her name, winning is her game.

Her name? Alex Russo.

As she walked down the halls, she met eyes with _him._ Him, meaning the only flaw in her life, the only way where she could embarrass herself, the only way when she _lost_. And that's what made her hate him the most. He made her feel second best, second prettiest, second most popular, second everything!

She hated him. She hated him ever since she's locked eyes with him for the first time they've met in kindergarten. Both believed that they could never be friends, that they could never get along, that they couldn't even _pretend_ to get along. They were so filled with hatred towards each other, it's like the sweetest and nicest thing in the world could seem oblivious to them.

They couldn't remember what got them to hate it each other. Maybe it was because she cut off all of his curly hair because boredom has entered her five-year-old system. Though that made him look bald for two and a half months and caused him to get teased every single day of his kindergarten life. Or maybe it was because he glued her long hair to the wall during naptime, revenge for cutting his hair off. Then she ended up getting made fun of for the rest of kindergarten as well. Either way, the two had a strong passion of hate towards each other. Flame ignites inside of them as they even think about one another.

She ignored him, making her way towards her best friend, Miley Stewart. She wasn't in the mood to start another fight with him at the moment. Miley Stewart on the other hand, is another story. She is Alex's right hand girl, her backup plan, her bulletproof secret weapon, practically her everything. They've been best friends since first grade, from sharing cookies during recess to sharing eyeliner during bathroom breaks.

Though if there had to be a second best at anything, that would be Miley Stewart.

"Hey," Miley said as she saw Alex. Alex walked faster towards her. "What's up?" Miley asked, noticing the mixed look in Alex's face. The two girls walked to their class, keeping silent at first. Alex then shrugged, rubbing her head, frustrated.

"I'm in a bad mood. I'm pretty sure something wrong is going to happen today. Plus, Dean is giving me bad signals. I'm absolutely sure that something bad is going to happen." Alex whined. Miley linked her arm in between Alex's. She's been hearing day after day how Alex's boyfriend is acting different. Miley just had a hunch that Dean was going to break up with Alex, but she's the best friend of the situation. Best friends make each other feel better, not worse.

"C'mon, Alex. Don't think that. Just think of the happy things in life. Think about how you're not failing every single subject, how every guy in this school wants you, how Gigi is finally leaving you alone, how the representatives from that fine arts school you've been dreaming to go to is going to canvass out our school later on in the month. Think of the positives, girl!" Miley said, nudging Alex. Alex sighed.

"Well I guess I could think of those things. It'll be pretty hard since there's just one teensy problem of my perfect life." she said.

"What?" Miley asked.

The two girls stopped. And then they saw _him_ again. Alex glared at him, feeling tension rise up in her again. She felt the need to hit something badly while he was there, standing in her presence. Miley on the other hand was smiling wide as ever. She blushed slightly as he smiled at her but glared at Alex. Alex rolled her eyes at him, pulling Miley away as well.

"Come on, I need to talk to Dean." Alex said.

"What? Huh? Oh, right. Your Dean problem." Miley said, sounding dazed. Alex shook her head and rolled her eyes again. The girls walked around the school until they reached the back where all of the rebels, tough guys, and rule breakers were hanging out. "Alex this looks unsafe." Miley whispered into Alex's ear.

"We'll just be here for a second. Relax." she said. Alex's eyes lit up as she saw Dean. She didn't understand why he still got her to do that, or how he even did. She started blushing a little as she stared at him, her breath caught in her throat, her knees buckling, and her mouth wide open and dry.

"Come on, let's go talk to Dean and then we could finally leave!" Miley said, practically pushing Alex towards Dean. Alex bumped into him, looking instantly into his eyes. She looked at him, embarrassed. Dean just stared at her, no expression in his face, nothing in his eyes. He looked so cold, so dark, so not himself. Alex couldn't understand.

"Hey." she said, trying to start out a conversation with her so-called boyfriend. Dean nodded his head, his posse doing the same thing. Alex glanced at Miley, giving her an unsure look. Miley nodded her head, urging Alex to go on. "Well, I wanted to ask you something. Can I talk to you in private please?" she asked sweetly and shyly. Dean sighed. He looked behind his head and gave his group and mental signal before pulling Alex into an empty hallway.

"Yeah, we really do need to talk." Dean said as he leaned on another set of lockers. Alex sighed, scared where this was leading to. She caught a glimpse of Miley, hiding behind the garbage cans just a couple yards away from them. "Alex, I know that you're a wonderful girl and all, but-"

"Dean, why have you've been acting so weirdly lately? It's like you like me, but then you go off and ignore me. I kind of feel like you don't even know that I'm here most of the time, that I'm your _girlfriend. _You're avoiding me at all costs nowadays, and you're constantly blowing me off." Alex said, completely cutting Dean off. Dean sighed, burying his hands inside of his pockets.

"Well there's a reason for that." he mumbled, looking down at his shoes. Alex bit her lip, worry overcoming her. She knew where this was leading too, they all knew. "Alex, you're a great person. Any guy would be privileged to date a girl like you, but I don't want that privilege. Not anymore. We lost it. I thought we had something, but as time passed by, we just drifted apart. We just don't have that thing anymore." Dean said, placing his hands on Alex's arms.

"So…we're breaking up?" Alex asked, her voice sounding like a squeak. She instantly shut her mouth, feeling like a pathetic fool. Dean frowned and nodded his head. Alex lowered her head down, feeling tears from the back of her eyes. Dean sighed and gave Alex one more hug. He faintly kissed the top of her head before walking away. Alex kept her cries inside of her until she heard the very last step of his shoes before it was complete silence.

"Alex?" Miley called out, coming out from behind the trashcans. "Are you okay?" she asked, wrapping her arm around her best friend. Alex screamed in frustration, stomping her foot on the floor.

"No! He just dumped me! Me, Alex Russo! I cannot believe that he actually dumped me!" she yelled. She was ready to go berserk. Miley frowned and hugged her best friend. "I thought Dean and I had something, Miles. I…I mean I actually thought that I…loved him. I guess I don't and he obviously doesn't." Alex mumbled, calming her anger down. "This isn't fair. I thought that Dean was my Knight in Shining Armor, my Prince Charming. Apparently guys like that doesn't exist in my world though." Alex complained.

"Don't say that. Every girl has a prince charming." Miley said, trying her best to cheer Alex up. Alex shook her head.

"Every girl but me." she mumbled. She looked straight into Miley's eyes. "You know, you're so lucky. Even if your boyfriend is a jerk, an idiot, an ass, and I hate him so much, you guys love each other so much. You two will probably never break up with each other and end up getting married. That's the kind of relationship I want. He sweeps you off your feet, he actually brings you flowers, he even serenades you when you're sad!" Alex whined.

"Alex, there'll be a guy who will do absolutely all of that to you. Don't worry, you will find the perfect guy. I promise!" Miley assured Alex.

The two girls stopped walking again. Alex's teary eyes grew dry and she frowned in anger as she saw him again. "Well speaking of the devil." she said, folding her arms. Miley smiled at him, waving shyly.

"Hi, Nate." she said. Nate Gray smiled at his girlfriend and kissed her cheek. Alex pretended to gag. (Though she did feel like throwing up.) Nate glared at Alex again, giving her a look.

"Hey, Miley." he said, looking back at Miley. "So how are you?" he asked, shuffling his feet against the floor.

"Nothing, just…err…problems." Miley replied, glancing at Alex. Alex scowled and looked straight on the floor. Nate snorted.

"Aw, what's wrong? Did Alex actually look in a mirror today and saw the most disgusting thing in the world?" he asked, faking a sympathetic voice. Alex smacked his arm.

"Hey!" she yelled. Nate glared at her and rubbed his arm, taking a step back. "God, Nate, do you have to ruin everything in my life?! Make everything worse than it already is?! I hate you!" she screamed at him before stomping on his foot and walking quickly away. Nate yelped and grasped onto his foot, hopping up and down on one leg. He gave Miley a look of annoyance.

"I really don't understand why you hang out with _that_." he said, sending a death glare towards Alex's way. Miley sighed and held onto Nate's hand.

"Dean just broke up with her. Give her a break today. Please?" she pleaded. Nate rolled his eyes. "For me?" she tried again. Nate sighed and folded his arms across his chest. He could always say no, making today the perfect day to humiliate and anger his enemy to the absolute fullest, or he could unwillingly say yes and probably end up getting a handful of kisses from Miley.

"Depends how she treats me first." Nate answered. Miley sighed.

"Okay then. I gotta find Alex. See you around, Nate." she said, kissing his cheek then walking down the hallway to find her upset best friend.

Nate shook his head and walked away. He turned down the hall and froze to what he saw. Alex was leaning against the wall, hugging her legs protectively, and burying her face behind them. She looked like she was crying. Nate thought he just saw a miracle, or at least something impossible. Alex never cried, at school anyways. Nate felt his stomach drop as he stared at the person he hated the most cry, right there in the middle of a hallway.

As much as he wanted to turn around and walk the opposite direction, his class was right next to Alex. He sighed, walking closer towards her. He felt unwanted guilt built up against his back as he walked closer and closer towards her. Nate actually felt sorry for her. He wanted her to feel better, be hyper, obnoxious, and loud again, but only because he couldn't stand the fact that he actually felt sorry for her.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, sounding more rude than he intended to. Nate scratched the back of his head as Alex ignored him. He cleared his throat, hating this awkward feeling going on between them. "Are you okay?" he asked, sounding a little more caringly. Alex looked at him for a split second before burying her face behind her legs again. Nate swore that she was crying. He bent down so he reached her level. "Hey, are you crying?" he asked. He sounded so surprised. Heck, everyone would of sounded surprise. Alex Russo was crying.

"No." Alex snapped back, wiping her tears with the sleeves on her shirt. "I'm not." she said, her voice cracking at the end. She glared at Nate, her tears barely drying up. "What's it to you anyways? What? You want to make fun of me in front of the whole entire student body? Oh, my god, Alex Russo is crying!" she said, getting up. Nate stood up besides her, glaring at her as well. He took a step closer towards her, his body practically pressed closely against hers. Alex stopped breathing. They were _so close_. His lips were almost touching hers. As they touched, she felt something tingling inside of her. A spark?

"Well sorry for asking." he said. "You know, even if you're sad, down, and hopeless, you're still a bitch." he said, pushing aside her to get to his classroom. Alex gasped, feeling as if a thousands swords just struck her. Of course she and Nate had verbal fights (they were usually physical though), but he never really called her a bitch, whore, slut, anything that would be really offensive to a girl. Alex angrily wiped the remaining tears away and stormed towards her classroom.

She wanted revenge, and she wanted it now. Though Dean wasn't the one she wanted revenge on.

Alex met up with Miley. "Oh, god, Alex! Come on, class is starting in seconds!" Miley said, pulling her best friend towards their classroom. Alex reluctantly ran with her, thinking that if she needed to think about her vengeance, she'll probably do it during history.

Alex sat on her assigned seat, squirming around a little, and tugging on her hair. She was so frustrated and mad, she might throw a fit right there. Alex stared blankly at the chalkboard, loudly tapping her nails against the desk. All the sounds around her droned out and all she could hear were the fast thoughts in her head. She fidgeted around with her school supplies, thinking deeply. Nothing could distract her right now.

She wanted Nate to feel hell today. When he saw her, she wanted him to feel an absolute large amount of pain, a pain that wouldn't go away until a long time. Alex gripped on her pencil bag before quickly releasing it. Her palms were white and her body was shaky.

Then it hit her - why does she care so much?

So what, Nate has called her bad names in the past. He's always made fun of her, called her insulting things, made her miserable. Why was today any different? Why did she just had the sudden feeling to kill Nate when before they would just forget about their argument and probably kick each other in the hallway as their revenge.

"Hey, are you okay?" Miley whispered towards Alex. "Do you want to go to the bathroom and wash your face? You're pale white." Alex shook her head, resting her cheek on the cold desk, turning away from Miley. Miley sighed and nodded her head.

Alex wanted Nate to feel hell, and that's what she'll do.

The bell rang. Alex jumped, feeling like she's only been in that classroom for seconds. She quickly walked out of the classroom, not even bothering to wait for Miley. Revenge can't wait. Luckily, next period was lunch. The doors in the cafeteria flew open and Alex stepped in. All eyes on her, envying, desiring.

Alex ignored her usual stares and marched straight up to Nate. Miley followed behind her, confused to why she's acting so differently all of a sudden. Nate looked up at her as he sat calmly at the lunch table. He gave her a puzzled look before glaring back. "You, you…ugh!" Alex yelled. She grabbed some boy's lunch experiment (salad mixed with soup and spaghetti sauce) and dumped it on Nate's head. "Why don't you do everyone here a favor and just go to hell!" she screamed at him before walking away.

Miley gasped in horror as she finally took in what she just saw. "Alex!" she screeched, running up to Nate to help clean him off. Alex ignored her and ran straight to the bathroom. Everyone in the cafeteria laughed as Miley tried her best to clean Nate up.

"God, I hate her!" Nate yelled, walking quickly to the boys' bathroom.

Miley sighed, slumping into the seat Nate just sat in. She frowned, looking at the table filled with food. She completely lost her appetite though. _I need them to be friends. If they're not, then I'll have to spend another two and a half years living like this, maybe even for the rest of my life! God, why does my best friend and my boyfriend just _have_ to hate each other? Why can't they be friends, God? Seriously. Life would be so much easier. They have so much in common, they could get along if they just tried. _Miley thought. She then smiled, thinking of a way that Alex and Nate could possibly become friends, or at least acquaintances.

She thought again, thinking that she could make the biggest mistake of her life. That Nate and Alex could hate each other even more than they do now and could even attempt to kill each other. Miley shook her head, thinking that she needed to take a chance. She wanted Alex and Nate to become friends after all.

OMJ

Nate instantly grabbed Alex's arm before she was about to touch the door of the girls' bathroom. Alex shrieked, but Nate quickly covered her mouth. "What the hell is wrong with you?! What is your problem?! Do you just enjoy making people's lives miserable?!" Nate yelled, pinning her against the wall. Alex pushed him away, brushing her shoulders.

"How about you?! Do you enjoy kicking people when they're down?!" she snapped back. It took all the strength and tolerance in Nate's body not to hit Alex right there. He just glared at her, hating her. Alex took a step closer towards Nate. Her legs on his, her stomach on his, her chest on his. They were _touching_ again. Alex could feel that strange and new feeling inside of her again. That…spark. "Do you just enjoy making girls cry?" she asked, pointing a finger at him.

Nate scoffed and shook his head. "Oh, please. Is this your pathetic way of making me feel like I'm the bad guy of the situation? You're the one who dumped crap all over me!" he said back, pressing even closer against her. "You deliberately humiliated me in front of the student body _again_!"

"Jesus Christ, Nate! I was freaking five! Sorry, I didn't know that scissors could cut hair too! And I didn't embarrass you on purpose!" Alex yelled, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. She looked down and sighed. "Hating you just comes naturally nowadays."

"Tell me about it." Nate muttered back, sighing. The two stayed in that position for a while, just standing closely against each other, quiet. Alex actually liked this. She almost smiled as she felt her body tingling. She then snapped out of her dream land, remembering that this is Miley's boyfriend, more importantly the guy she hates.

"Nate?" Alex asked. Her voice actually sounded sweet and innocent. It was something Nate wasn't used to. He hid his shocked face as he tried to look into Alex's eyes without acting like a fool. "Could you get _off of me_!" she yelled, attempting to push his strong and heavy built body off of hers.

Nate stepped back and tried not to blush of embarrassment. He rolled his eyes and walked straight to the boys' bathroom to wash all of the gunk out of his hair and clothes.

Alex leaned up against the wall with her arms folded across her chest and her eyes staring straight at the peach and yellow tiled floor. She was blushing immensely and her eyes were sparkling. She sighed, looking straight up. She could feel her cheeks burning and her insides flipping up and down. She smiled a little, but then quickly frowned.

This was _Nate_ she was acting all giddy about.

That's close enough to being illegal.

**A/N: Okay peoples, here's my new story! Yippeee!!!! The lyrics on the top mean something btw. (Psh, I didn't just put them there randomly.) I noticed as I was brainstorming and prewriting this in my notebooks that each chapter reminds me of a part of lyrics from a certain song. _Gives You Hell_ is pretty self-explanatory for this chapter. lol.  
So tell me what you guys think! Should I continue or not???**


	2. Chapter 2

_"For I felt what I had not felt before"  
_Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton

"So tonight, we're meeting up at the park, right?" Miley said excitedly to Alex. Alex nodded her head, not paying attention to what her best friend was saying. She was too in touch with her iPod. Miley snapped her fingers in front of Alex's face, noticing Alex's blank look. "Alex, this is going to be important. You can't forget that we'll be meeting up at the park tonight." Miley whined, sounding like a frustrated three year old. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Why would tonight be any different? All we do is scope out cute guys at the park, talk endless smack about people we hate while eating ice cream, then we sleep over at each other's houses to watch sappy romantic movies and stuff ourselves with chocolate and more ice cream. The same Friday night routine over and over. I think I memorize the whole dang thing from the back of my head by now, Miles. Relax, I'll be there tonight." Alex assured Miley as they walked down the hallway. "Well I'll see you after school." Alex said as the bell rang.

Miley found Nate and ran towards him to catch up with him. She grabbed onto his hand and kissed his lips feverishly. Nate smirked. "What was that for?" he asked, amused but flattered. Miley giggled and bit her lip, embarrassed at why she did that.

"Are you busy tonight?" she asked flirtatiously, completely ignoring his question. She rocked their intertwined hands back and forth as they walked across the school. Nate shook his head no, still smirking. "Great! Could you meet me at the park tonight, say sevenish?"

"Uh, why?" Nate asked. Miley gave him an 'annoyed girlfriend' look. "Not that I don't want to or anything but why?" he asked, saving himself from a long lecture from Miley. Miley sighed and placed her hands on Nate's shoulders.

"Because I want you there." she said, smirking before she placed another sweet kiss on Nate's lips. "Bye, I love you." she said, waving as she walked off to her class. Nate sighed and smiled, burying his hands inside of his pockets. He was_ so_ going to be there at the park tonight.

He slowly walked backwards as he watched Miley go, watching the way her hips move side to side as she gracefully walked to her next class. Nate sighed again, still smiling. He then bumped into someone, knocking the poor person over. "Ow!" the girl complained. Nate swiftly turned around and offered his hand to pull the girl up. She quickly accepted.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he said. The girl flipped her wavy hair since it was all over her eyes. Nate frowned as he saw who it was. "Oh, it's just you. Never mind then." he said as he glared at Alex. Alex's face turn red as she was steaming. Then the two looked down, realizing that they were still holding hands. They just stared at their intertwined hands, not moving. It's like they wanted to pull away, look at each other disgustedly, then tell each other off. But they just couldn't.

"Umm, yeah." Alex said, slowly releasing her hand from his. They blinked at each other, so confused. Nate scratched the back of his neck while Alex twirled her hair awkwardly. "Uh, bye." she mumbled before turning on her heel and walking off. Nate nodded his head even if Alex's back was turned to him. He watched her go as well. He raised an eyebrow, wondering why he started to sweat as he watched Alex move. Her hair flying in the soft winds inside of the building, her hips rocking from side to side seductively, her hands touching the air all around her.

It's not like she was doing it on purpose, but she was definitively driving Nate insane. This time, it wasn't over anger.

Nate shook his head roughly as he turned around. He _ran_ to class as he couldn't stop thinking about what just happened. He wanted that moment to erase, like it never happened; he wanted _Alex_ to be erased, like she never popped into his life. He turned around to sneak a quick glance at Alex. She was still walking, slow as ever. Nate almost fell on his feet as he watched her walk away. He silently groaned, not understanding what was wrong with him. He just didn't get it.

All he knew was that he never felt like this when he was with Miley, that's for sure.

OMJ

Miley threw her dirty clothes behind her back as she searched around her room. "Where is it?!" she asked herself as she frantically turned her bedroom upside down. "Oh, my god, where is it?!" she repeated, sounding more worried and worried by the second. "Oh, god, please, no, no! Don't go missing!" she told her imaginary item.

"Miley, Alex is on the phone. She's complaining about how you won't answer your cell phone." her older brother, Jackson, said. "Miley," he called as he looked around her room, "what the heck are you doing to your room?"

"No time for talking, Jackson! I'm missing something really important!" Miley yelled. With that, she pushed Jackson out of her room and slammed the door on his face. She locked her door securely before she continued to search around her room.

"Sorry, Alex. I doubt that she's coming. She looks really busy." Jackson said. Alex sighed on the other line before she said goodbye and hung up.

OMJ

Nate walked around the park aimlessly. It's been fifteen minutes, he's circled the park hundreds of times, and there was still no Miley and no kisses to be found. Though he kept on looking. He knew well enough that his perfect girlfriend wouldn't stand him up. He looked up at the sky, seeing that it was dark. He frowned, worrying about what could of happened to Miley. He tried calling her, but she wouldn't answer her cell phone and when he called her house, Jackson would just say that she was busy. Nate sighed as he watched each passing star. He then felt something hit him, but it was something soft. Apparently he wasn't soft either because he knocked the person down.

"God, do you always have to push me down today?" a familiar voice said. Nate sighed and rubbed his head, already getting a migraine. Alex stood up and brushed the dirt off of her clothes. "What are you doing here?" she demanded as she folded her arms across her chest. Nate raised an eyebrow, annoyed already.

"I'm here to meet with Miley. She told me to meet her here at seven, but so far I haven't seen her. I hope nothing bad happened to her." Nate said. Alex frowned, furrowing her eyebrows, and glaring quite harshly into Nate's eyes.

"What?! Why did she tell you to come?! Tonight is our night! Tonight is our Alex and Miley Night, always have and always will! Why did she invite _you_ tonight?!" Alex yelled. People looked at the two, staring at them, wondering why Alex was blowing up on Nate. Nate looked around, embarrassed. He then gave Alex a look.

"I don't know! I didn't even know that you guys had 'best friend days'! All I want to know is why Miley isn't here. Is something wrong with her? Did she get hurt?" Nate asked, trying to hide all of his anger inside. If they weren't in public he would of _definitely_ yelled even louder and angrier at Alex.

"She's fine. Jackson said that she's busy doing something at home so that's why she couldn't make it. God, she's probably throwing a mini fit in her room that she'll probably need venting out to tonight. Hmm, maybe we will have our Alex and Miley Night after all." Nate rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. No need to suck me into your stupid girl issues. I'm out." he said, turning to walk away. Alex quickly grabbed the back of his shirt, stopping him. Nate sighed and turned to face Alex again. "What could you possibly want now?" he asked, waving her hand off of him. Alex sighed and looked on the floor.

"Could you…maybe…take me home?" she asked, sounding like a scared little girl. Nate folded his arms, giving Alex another confused look.

"Why would _you_ want _me _to take you home? And why should I even do that?" Nate questioned. Alex dragged her feet across the cement back and forth, still not making eye contact with Nate. She sighed and finally looked into his eyes deeply.

"Because…well," she started twirling her hair again, feeling insecure and awkward, "I'm scared." Nate instantly burst into laughter. He shook his head, still laughing hardly. He just couldn't believe what Alex just told him. Alex sent him a death glare, angry all over again.

"Yeah. Sure you are. Whatever. I'll see you at school, hopefully not-"

"Nate!" Alex whined. Nate stopped laughing, seeing that actual fear in Alex's eyes. "It isn't funny! It's dark outside, my parents and brothers aren't at home so they can't pick me up, and I'm a girl walking in the middle of the night. Don't you know how dangerous that is? Nate, please, just take me home." Nate blinked, not believing what he just heard. Alex was scared.

He sighed. Alex had a point, and he also couldn't say no to her sad and scared face. He was dreadfully cornered. "Ugh, fine I'll walk you home." he said, defeated. Alex smiled.

"Thanks. And don't worry, I'll make sure to tell Miley that you did something good for me. She'll be all over you the next time she sees you." she said as they started heading towards Alex's house. Nate smiled warmly at her. Alex started gawking at him. She quickly turned away, feeling her cheeks burn. Nate did the same, realizing her sudden action. The two looked up at the sky, seeing it completely filled with stars in every direction. "Wow, it's so beautiful out here tonight." Alex whispered. Nate nodded.

"Yeah." he agreed. The two looked at each other, letting a silence pass between them. They quietly walked towards Alex's house, feeling even more awkward and awkward with each step. "This is so weird." Nate said, finally breaking the silence. Alex looked at him. "I mean, we're not arguing, attempting to murder each other, or anything we usually do." Nate said. Alex gave him a weird look.

"Is that bad? I actually like this." she said. She instantly closed her mouth once she realized the words that slipped through her lips. Nate tried to hide his smile as Alex looked away from him, mortified. He scooted a little closer towards her as well.

"Yeah, I like this too." he admitted. Alex looked at him and gave him a small smile. Nate grinned back. He watched as the starlight reflected against her smooth skin, giving her that beautiful glow. He watched as her hair shined in the dim streetlights, still looking so soft and tender in the dark. He watched as she smiled at him, looking so giggly and perky for once. He just couldn't stop watching her.

"So are we going to keep on looking at each other as we walk to my place or we going to talk?" Alex joked, poking his side. Nate laughed a little.

"Okay, umm, well I don't actually know what to say. I mean, I don't really know much about you if you think about it." Alex nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know you well enough either. Hey, why don't we ask each other questions? You know, so we could actually _talk_. I hate the silence. It's too quiet." Alex said. Nate laughed again.

"Yeah, that's why it's called 'silence'." he said. Alex laughed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll go first. What's your favorite color?" Alex made her thinking face. She tapped her finger on her chin before she finally thought of it.

"I like a lot of colors actually. Too long to list. How about you?"

"Blue all the way." Nate said. Alex laughed at his attempt sound cool. Nate smirked at her. "Okay, your turn." he said, nudging her arm. Alex put on her thinking face again.

"Uh, what do you do during your spare time?" she asked, smiling brightly at him again. Nate smiled back, feeling his stomach flip up and down. He touched his stomach, feeling something fluttering inside of him. He quickly looked away from her, realizing that Alex just gave him the butterflies.

"Well, I don't know if I should tell you…" he said, his voice trailing off. He smirked at her.

"Tell me!" Alex begged, giggling. Nate laughed and shook his head no. "Aw, c'mon, Nate! Tell me! I won't tell anyone, and I'll try my absolute best not to judge you!" Nate laughed again. He sighed and shook his head.

"Fine, I'll tell you. When I'm all alone, I pick up my guitar and start playing music. Playing, writing, singing, anything. It's just when I pick up my guitar, it's like I could do anything. I don't know what happens, but it's like music could take me anywhere." Alex looked down and smiled. She never knew that Nate could be so…sensitive. She rubbed her shoulders as she felt the nightly breeze prickle her skin. Nate watched her. "Hey, are you cold?" he asked. He handed her his black leather jacket before she could even answer him.

"No, you'll freeze too." Alex said, pushing his jacket back at him.

"Nah, I'm a guy. We could stand through the wind, snow, and rain." he joked, putting his jacket around Alex's shoulders. Alex smiled even more as she wore his warm leather jacket. She inhaled softly, taking in Nate's delicious scent. (Well, now she knew for sure that Nate was one of the few guys who actually showered.) She felt lost in his jacket, in himself. It was just so…wow to her.

"Thanks," she said, "and about your music thing, it sounds cool. I never knew that about you. I mean, yeah I knew that you went to that music camp every summer because Miley would never shut up about how much she misses you, but I didn't know that you actually write music. You sound like your music seems really, really good. Can I see it?" Nate flushed red, shaking his head no.

"No way! I've never let anyone see my music, not even Miley!" he said. Alex pouted, giving him big brown puppy dog eyes. Nate groaned, looking away from her. "God, you and Miley are so good at that pouting thingy." Alex smirked, edging closer towards Nate. "But you're still not reading my songbook. They are for my eyes only." he said, smiling down at her. As they walked more down along the sidewalk, they scooted closer and closer towards each other until they were side-by-side, so close that air couldn't get through them. They blushed at each other, feeling that nice warmth as they touched.

"Well for me, I draw, paint, mess around with colors. Heck, I could be splattering paint on my ceiling if I wanted to. I pretty much do anything that has to do with art during my spare time. Besides annoying my brothers of course, though that comes at a daily basis." Nate laughed.

"You do art?" he asked, surprised. A girl like Alex Russo doing art was something nobody expected. Nate was shocked. "That seems really awesome. I never thought that you would even know what a paintbrush was." he teased. Alex gasped overdramatically, playfully punching his arm. "Could I see your art?" Alex smirked at him.

"Only if I could see your music." she said. Nate frowned.

"Not gonna happen." he stated. Alex smirked even bigger at him.

"Then apparently you'll never get to see my work until you show me yours." This time, it was Nate who pouted at her, looking like an adorable and innocent little boy. Alex covered her face with her hands. "No, you're not going to win me over with that!" she giggled. Nate pried her hands off of her face, laughing as he did so. Alex turned her head and closed her eyes tightly. "Nate!" she laughed as he tried to open her eyes.

"Come on!" he begged. Alex shook her head no, still not looking a him. "Well you leave me with no choice." he smirked. Nate grabbed Alex's waist and started to spin her round and round. Alex screamed as she laughed, kicking and squirming, begging Nate to put her down. Nate laughed as he flung her around, trying to get her to say yes.

"Nate, put me down!" she laughed, slapping his hands.

"Not until I get to see your art stuff!" he said back, still spinning her around in the nighttime sky.

"I'm telling Miley that you're harassing me!" Alex threatened. Nate gasped, imitating Alex from earlier.

"Oh, my god! Don't do that!" he pretended to beg. He laughed and finally put Alex down. Alex smirked up at him, punching his arm lightly. Nate smirked back down at her. His smile wore off once he remembered that this is his _girlfriend's _best friend. "Come on, I told my parents that I'll be home at eight." Nate said as they started to continue their walk back to Alex's house.

"Okay, I have another question for you." Alex said. Nate turned all his attention back on Alex. "How many girlfriends did you have before Miley?" she asked with a devious smile on her lips. Nate frowned.

"No, you're just going to make up stories and tell Miley some twisted truth. I don't think I'm going to let that happen. I'm quite content with my relationship with my girlfriend right now, thank you very much." Alex laughed and nudged Nate to the side.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her anything. Plus, Miley isn't one to get jealous. I don't know how she deals with it. Everyday she has to remember the fact that lots of girls are fighting over you, crushing big time on you. It sucks because you're just too cute." Alex scoffed. Nate smiled at her.

"Oh, really, I'm cute?" he asked. Alex blushed.

"N-no, I didn't say _that_. Miley did." Alex quickly said, saving herself. Nate leaned closer towards her. Alex almost froze as she practically felt Nate's lips on her skin. Her heart skipped a beat and her mind was going in circles. She felt like she was on a never ending roller coaster that went high enough to reach for the stars. She was dazed and she couldn't stop thinking about Nate. Nate was causing this to her, but what was he doing that's making her feel like this? Well whatever it was, she didn't want it to stop.

"Sure." he said sarcastically before standing straight up.

Alex sucked in a gulp of air, shaking her head. Suddenly, her entire self was changing. She started walking slower, smiling shyer, her stomach was jumping, and she felt like the way she felt when she was when she was in love with Dean. No - she felt even better with Nate then when she was with Dean. Alex really didn't understand what was going on with her now. Then the terrifying truth hit her - she was crushing on her _best friend's _boyfriend_._

Alex dismissed that thought, thinking how impossible that is. She's only stopped fighting with him now and only minutes has passed. She couldn't develop a crush over a guy she _hates_ that fast.

Could she?

Alex thought of the proof over this _insane _possibility. Maybe she was walking slower because she wanted to spend more time with him. Maybe she her stomach was jumping because Nate's smile was making her feel like fireworks were shooting inside of her. Maybe she felt like she was with Dean, but just better, was because she was falling for Nate. She's falling and falling and can't seem to land.

"Hey, are you okay? You spaced out." Nate said, poking Alex's arm. Alex flinched, snapping back into reality. "Are you okay?" Nate repeated, laughing at her priceless shocked reaction. A red tint reached up onto Alex's cheeks as she watched Nate laugh. She immediately looked down, hoping to God that Nate didn't notice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just zoning out." she said. Nate nodded. They were almost at Alex's house. Alex sighed, wishing that they could spend more time with each other. "Hey, wait, you never answered my question." Alex said, smirking at Nate. "Now tell me, how many girlfriends did you have before Miley?" Alex felt her playful and obnoxious mood rising up in her again. She was relieved, happy that her shyness was wearing off.

"Okay, but promise to not tell Miley." Alex nodded, promising. "Well…none." Alex haulted to a stop, and her mouth dropped open. "I swear, Miley was my first girlfriend. I've kissed this girl when I was thirteen, but Miley was my first real girlfriend. Surprised?"

"More like shocked! How, I mean, you're-" Alex stopped herself from saying that Nate was hot. Nate looked at her, raising an eyebrow and confused to why she paused in the middle of her sentence. "You're a great guy. I thought you would have had a billion girlfriends in middle school, but I know for sure that billion of girls were crushing on you during middle school." Alex scoffed, trying to play it cool.

Nate laughed. "Well believe it or not, Miley was my first girlfriend. She'll probably be happy to hear that, but I don't want her to know. She'll probably think that I'm a loser like _somebody_ here." he said, staring straight at her. Alex laughed, pushing him. "How about you? Any boyfriends besides Dean?"

"Well actually, Riley and Dean were my only boyfriends." Alex sighed. "I thought I loved Dean though. I thought that he was my Prince Charming. That's really all I want, Prince Charming. Though he'll never come and rescue me. I guess I'm cursed because I can never find the right guy." Nate stopped smiling, seeing the sad look on Alex's face. "You know, Miley's really lucky. She's found her Prince Charming." she whispered.

"Oh, well, you'll find the right guy for you, Alex. You're an amazing girl. Any guy would be lucky do date you." Nate said. He started blushing once he realized what he just said. Alex smiled timidly at him, giggling a little. Nate smiled back, reaching out for her hand. Alex touched his hand and they held onto each other as they continued to walk down the sidewalk.

They looked above their heads again. Alex sighed in awe, loving the vast stars on top of them. "Hey, a shooting star!" Alex said, pointing a finger up to the sky. They stared widely at the passing glow as it made its way through the skies. Alex felt Nate's grip on her tighter. She smiled, squeezing his hand back.

"Make a wish." Nate whispered. Alex closed her eyes.

_I wish I'll find my Prince Charming._ she thought. Once she opened her eyes, she noticed that they were standing in front of her house. She sighed and frowned. Nate walked her to her front steps and stayed until she unlocked her house.

"Thanks for taking me home, Nate. I really appreciate it." Alex said.

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone at school this. They'll probably think that Nate Gray taking Alex Russo home is a sign of the apocalypse." Nate joked. Alex laughed. She sighed as she held onto the doorknob. They both looked down, not one of them moving. They just stood there in between the doorframe, breathing, taking in the moment.

"This doesn't mean that I won't be hating you when we get back to-" but Alex was cut off once she felt Nate's lips touching hers. It was a sweet and chaste kiss that lasted for ten seconds straight. Even if it was for a short moment, they felt like firecrackers were being thrown up into the air, like bombs of lust were exploding, like time just froze and God gave all of his attention and love to the two of them for ten seconds. The two slowly pulled away, surprised at what they did. "-school." Alex finished slowly. She blinked at Nate, wondering why he did that. Nate was shocked at himself, at Alex. He expected her to hit him, call him a cheating pig. But she didn't.

"I'm sorry." he whispered. Alex didn't reply. She just continued to blink, so, so confused. "I gotta go." he mumbled. Nate turned around and quickly walked back to his house.

Alex turned around slowly and closed the door behind her. She blinked around the house, bewildered by her emotions. She was angry because her best friend's boyfriend just kissed her, happy that her best friend's boyfriend kissed her, and confused but guilty because her best friend's boyfriend is _officially_ her crush.

Alex touched her lips slightly, still feeling Nate's kiss upon them. She smiled and smiled wide as ever. Alex then sighed and frowned.

He was her best friend's boyfriend. He was her crush. He was Nate.

**A/N: Happy that you recieved a quick update? I'm trying to make this story so lovey dovey between Nate and Alex and Nate and Miley. For some reason I'm getting sucked into the romance thing. lol. Thank you for the amazing reviews I've gotten so far! I'm trying my absolute best to reply to everyone! (New story resolution. lol) But I got some bad news. My mom is going crazy and said that she's going to block almost every website on my internet except for Yahoo and Youtube. ISN'T SHE INSANE?! Ugh, that means that I'll barely get any time to be on the internet. (She's freaking crazy!)  
Oh, and don't worry for the people who really want me to update About You Now: I'm writing it and the chapter's almost over! I'll post it as soon as I can, don't worry!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

_"I'd love to make you mine 'cause it's the only way to hold you in my wild imagination."  
_A Million Miles Away by Nikki Gil

Alex paced around her house, emotions attacking her mind. She didn't know what to feel, and she definitely didn't enjoy feeling them all at once. Alex felt like she was going insane and that she would need to go to a mental institution after all of this is done. She groaned, dropping herself lazily onto her bed. She finally figured out what to feel first.

Guilt.

This was, after all, Miley's boyfriend she's crushing over. Miley, as in her _best friend_ since first grade. Alex couldn't betray her friendship over a crush. Not only is that stupid, but it's also not worth it. Alex sighed, facing towards her window to see the moon's remaining light. She closed her eyes, thinking about her situation. Was Nate really worth it? Was losing Miley really worth it?

Alex jumped, feeling her cell phone buzz from her back pocket. She reluctantly grabbed it and answered it with a bored hello. "Oh, my god! Alex, you have no idea what I've lost! I've tried calling you for the past, like, hundred years! Why didn't you answer your phone?!" Miley demanded, sounding more worried than usual. Alex looked at her phone, realizing that Miley called her seventeen times. Nate must of distracted her… "Alex?" Miley called. Alex snapped out of her thoughts.

"Yeah? What?" she answered, sounding lost. Miley sighed.

"I lost my mom's necklace." Miley whispered, sounding like she was going to cry. Alex frowned.

"Aw, Miley, you didn't really lose it. It's in your room, it's still there. You must of just misplaced it or something. You didn't lose the necklace, trust me. I'll even help you look for it tomorrow when I come over. First thing in the morning…well actually maybe it's the afternoon because only God knows what time I'll wake up tomorrow." Alex said.

"I just feel really bad, Alex. I mean, Nate has been ignoring my calls all night. I'd understand if you don't pick up the phone because you get distracted really easily, but for Nate, I mean, he's never really ignored me like this. I called him repeatedly for two hours straight and he won't pick up the phone. During the second hour, he turned his phone off since I would just go straight to his voicemail. To make things worse, my mom's necklace is missing. Did I do something wrong?" Alex bit her lip as she felt her stomach twist into a knot.

"Maybe Nate is just going through something…confusing at the moment." Alex said, though she, herself, knew well enough that she wasn't talking enough Nate. Miley was silent on the other line. Alex looked at her cell phone, wondering if Miley hung up. She put it back to her ear and waited patiently for Miley to say something.

"Okay, who the _hell_ is this because this isn't Alex Russo. Alex would never side on Nate with anything. I would expect you to say things like, 'oh, he's just being retarded and forgot how to use a cell phone', or 'he's just a natural ass', or something insulting towards him!" Miley said, sounding like she was laughing. Alex laughed weakly along with her, glad to hear that she was sounding happier.

"Nate could just go to hell for all I care. I'm sorry that he's not answering your phone calls or calling you back. He's a freaking retard. " Alex said, trying to sound obnoxious and laidback as she always does. She felt relieved, knowing that Miley bought it, since she was laughing again. "Well anyways, I gotta go. I'll be at your house in the morning, Miles. And don't worry, we'll find your necklace." Alex said, faking a yawn.

"Okay then. Bye." Miley said, and the two girls hung up.

Alex closed her cell phone and stared at it. She frowned as her fingers fidgeted with the screen and sides. She flipped it open again and scrolled down her list until it landed on the letter N. She almost flinched as she read Nate's name on her cell phone screen. To her surprise, her cell phone started buzzing again, but this time it was Nate who was calling her. She mentally screamed at herself, knowing that she got jinxed. Alex watched her cell phone as Nate's name kept on bouncing around her screen. She questioned herself, wondering if she should pick it up or not. She blinked at the blue screen, trying her best not to cry over something as trivial as this.

Alex hesitated then answered the call. She opened her mouth to speak, but she just couldn't find the right words to say. Her mouth hung open quietly as the silence passed between the two. "Hello?" Nate finally asked. "Alex, are you there?" he questioned in a low whisper.

"Yeah." Alex said, her voice ended up sounding like a squeak. She cleared her throat, embarrassed. "What do you want?" she asked. The two were quiet again, just listening to the ticking noises from the clock. Nate could practically hear Alex's heart beat quickly from the other line; he could feel her tension.

"It's just…about that thing that happened…" he started. Alex felt her spirits lighten up a little. She straightened up as bright conclusions hopped around her mind. Was he going to say that he wanted her too? Was he going to say that he's fallen for her as well? Was he going to say that he'd break up with Miley for her? "Can we not ever speak about it? Pretend that it never happened? And especially to never mention it to Miley?" Nate asked - more like begged. Alex sunk down into her bed and frowned. She suffocated her pillow, feeling crushed.

"Yeah, I mean, it was on accident right? I practically barfed once you left. Ew, I can't believe our lips touched!" Alex complained, trying her best to sound alright. She felt Nate roll his eyes on the other line. "And don't worry, I won't tell Miley. But I suggest that you call her. She really wants to talk to you." Alex forced out. Nate sighed.

"I had a feeling that she would call you about that. It's not that I'm ignoring her on purpose, I just feel really guilty right now."

"Why would you feel guilty? It was on accident." Alex answered in her famous obnoxious voice. Nate didn't reply; he just kept completely hushed. A small smile formed on Alex's face. "Why would you feel guilty, Nate?" Alex asked, feeling devious and giddy at the same time.

"You're right. I should call Miley now. I guess I'll…see you around." Nate quickly said, completely ignoring Alex's question. He immediately hung up without saying a goodbye. Alex smirked and closed her cell phone. So Nate _did_ have feelings for her as well. That kiss they shared wasn't a moment of weakness. It was something more, and they both knew that.

Alex looked at herself at her mirror. She frowned as she looked at all of the pictures of her and Miley placed around the edges of her mirror. She picked one up that had a picture of her on Miley's right and Nate on her left. It was taken during Miley's fifteenth birthday. Alex never knew why she even placed that picture there since Nate was in it. She rolled her eyes at herself, realizing that the only reason why she even put it there was because she thought that she looked hot.

Alex studied the picture. Nate's arm was wrapped around Miley's waist, Alex was hugging Miley's torso, and Miley had her arms wrapped around Alex and Nate's shoulders. Miley's best friend and her boyfriend. Alex couldn't ruin that happy picture. If she does, maybe a year later it'll be Miley's backstabbing ex-best friend and her cheating ex-boyfriend. Alex literally dropped the picture just thinking about it.

Was losing Miley worth it? No.

Alex walked back to her bed and leaned against her pink fuzzy wall. She glanced back at the picture, looking at it from the corner of her eye. She looked at Nate's part of the picture. His adorable smile, his glistening eyes, his unique curly hair. Alex almost drooled at him. She shook her head, thinking that she didn't want to lose Miley. Really, what kind of girl would go from hating a guy whom she thought was the most repulsive thing she's ever laid her eyes on to crushing head-over-heels on him, thinking that he's God's gift to women? Alex tried to tell herself that she wasn't that kind of girl.

She looked back down at her cell phone and looked down her calls list. She felt shocked as butterflies swarmed inside of her once she stared at Nate's name. She silently groaned, throwing her cell phone across the bed.

_Face it, you like Nate. You actually like-like him, and he might just like you back. You want Nate, you want Nate, you want Nate! _she angrily thought. She shook her head again, trying to think of the opposite. To her dismay, she couldn't. She knew the truth and she can't deny it. She wanted Nate, and she wanted him badly. But could she at least ignore it?

OMJ

Alex felt fidgety and nervous as she stood in front of Miley's front door. She questioned her actions, feeling stupid. She's been to Miley's house at least a trillion times, why would today make a difference? Then again, she's never had a crush on her best friend's boyfriend before. Alex groaned, remembering.

She impatiently tapped her feet as she heard footsteps from the other side of the door. The door burst open, revealing a disheveled Miley. Alex raised her eyebrow. "Wow, you really want to have that necklace back." Alex said, stepping inside. She froze once she saw Nate sneaking out behind the backdoor. She felt her heart sink, knowing what Miley was _really_ doing upstairs. She quickly turned back to Miley, pretending as if she didn't see anything. "So this necklace? We're going to find it." she mumbled, looking down at her shoes.

"Hey, are you okay? You randomly look sad now." Miley said, nudging Alex's arm. Alex shook her head no.

"I'm fine. Just…tired I guess." she lied, heading to Miley's room. Miley frowned, not buying it. She quickly trailed behind Alex, trying to know the real reason why she was down.

"No, don't say that you're tired. I know you, Alex." Miley said as the two entered her room. Alex looked around her room, having the biggest urge to run to a suicidal anonymous convention. Miley's perfect bed was all messed up, obviously from her and Nate. Though, that wasn't what made Alex feel worse. She's been in this exact room almost everyday of her life, and she's never noticed the _hundreds_ of pictures of Miley and Nate, scattered around the walls. She felt like she was going to drop on the floor and start whining like a little girl about how much she hated the site of this. She felt like she was going to _cry_.

Alex couldn't stand Miley's perfect relationship with Nate. She couldn't stand how her best friend gets her crush. Alex was used to having what she wanted, and it wasn't her nature to let others get what she wanted. Alex felt like she was going to go berserk. She was giving Miley her Prince Charming for Christ's sake!

"Alex, are you okay?" Miley asked, even more worry in her voice. Alex blinked and glanced at Miley's vanity. She saw that her eyes were red. Alex quickly rubbed her eyes and scoffed.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay? Is there a reason for me not to be okay? You know, let's just look for your necklace. I have to…err…do something later on today." Alex said in a panicky way. Alex turned around and didn't let Miley reply. She took a deep breath and started looking around the room, trying to find the necklace. She tried her very best to ignore all of the pictures of Miley and Nate. She almost bawled her eyes out at the process.

OMJ

An hour and a half passed by, and there were still no signs of the necklace. Alex and Miley were laying on the bed, resting. They were just staring up at the poster-filled ceiling, reminiscing the serene silence in the room. Though, Alex's mind was anything but serene. So many things were running inside of her. She wanted to force Miley to break up with Nate, she wanted to rip all of the pictures of Nate and Miley off of the walls, she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs in frustration. She couldn't though. She didn't think she was capable of doing any of those things - to Miley at least.

"Miles," Alex whispered, turning her head slightly at her. "How much do you…love Nate?" she asked. Miley smiled and looked down. Her cheeks turned red and she couldn't stop smiling.

"So much, it's not even funny. I love this boy so, _so_ much, Alex. I don't think that we could ever break up. I can't even imagine it. When I'm with him, it's like I'm free, like I'm the most happiest person alive. I feel so down and depressed when he doesn't talk to me. Thank God that last night he finally called me back. He kept on saying sorry over and over for not picking up my calls. You were right, he was just going through some boy-phase thing for puberty. This morning he made it up to me though." Miley said, grinning giggly.

"Don't want to know." Alex said, giving Miley a disgusted look. Miley laughed, pushing Alex slightly. Alex forced a smile then turned the other direction. She sighed silently and frowned.

_Why Nate? There's a million guys out there, but you just have to pick Nate to like? Really like? On the verge of love? _as Alex thought of it, the more that she knew that she couldn't have Nate, the more that she wanted him. She couldn't stop thinking about him, and last night she had multiple dreams of Nate and her. When she was with Dean, things like this never happened to her. Yes, she was 'so in love' with Dean, but with Nate, it was like that statement was actually real.

"Why do you ask?" Miley wondered, not enjoying the awkward silence that just happened. Alex turned back to her, giving her a small smile. She folded her arms and merely shrugged.

"I'm just wondering." she answered. _No, you just want to know what you're in for in the competition. You want to do better than Miley. You want to show Nate that you could love him better that she can, that you're the better choice of a girlfriend for him._ she thought. Alex looked down, realizing how shallow and stuck up that thought was. "When do you think that I'll meet my Prince Charming?" Alex asked, quickly changing the subject.

Miley touched Alex's hand caringly and gave her a warm grin. "You'll find the right guy Alex. Just the way Nate and I found each other. Every girl finds her Prince Charming sooner or later. Maybe you'll just be later. I bet that when you grow up, you'll be happily married with your Prince Charming." Miley said. Alex looked away from Miley again, accidentally meeting her eyes with yet another picture of Nate and Miley. The happiness in their eyes just brought devastation and more guilt into Alex's mind. Alex looked away again. She raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Alex, I think I found your necklace." she said in a bored voice. "Can I go now?"

OMJ

"Nate, I feel like there's something wrong. I mean Alex hasn't been acting normally for the past couple of days. It's like when I'm with you, she tries to avoid me at all costs, then when I'm not with you, she barely talks to me. I think she's mad at me." Miley said as she and Nate walked down the hallway.

"I don't think she's mad at you. Maybe she's just…" Nate couldn't find the word though. _Confused?_ Though, that was what he was feeling. Every since he asked Miley Stewart out in their freshman year, he never thought twice about breaking up with her. It was like love at first sight for them. But after that once kiss between him and Alex made him thought otherwise. The girl who he _hated_ is actually giving second thoughts about his girlfriend, Miley, the love of his life. Nate was definitely confused.

"Maybe she's just what?" Miley asked. Nate didn't answer. He just shrugged and the two kept on walking. "She's been acting like this ever since Friday night. On Saturday when she came over my house, it looked like she was about to cry. If something was wrong with her, she would tell me. I'm her best friend for god's sake! We tell each other everything! She's keeping a secret from me, I know it." Miley said.

_She isn't the only one._ Nate thought. He kept silent, nodding at whatever Miley said. Miley then halted to a stop. Nate froze once he saw the reason of their pause. Alex was standing right in front of them, looking out of it. Once she met eyes with Nate and Miley, she quickly turned the other direction and walked away. Miley sighed. "See, this is what I mean. She's completely ignoring me every time I'm with you. Look, when you're gone, she's going to talk to me, but she'll only use one word sentences!" Miley whined. "What do you think she's hiding from me?" Nate couldn't make eye-contact with her. He shrugged again.

"Look, I gotta go. I'll see you later, Miley." Nate said, kissing her cheek before walking away. Nate walked out of the school to the grass field in the back. He sat down underneath the tree and groaned. He knew that he still hated Alex. Though a feeling inside of him told him something else. He never knew that it was possible to hate and like someone at the same time. He hated her, but after Friday night, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her again, and talk to her, and share all of his secrets with her. He wanted Friday night to play again.

Nate knew that he wasn't the type of guy who would do that to his own girlfriend though. He loved Miley with all of his heart. Was it possible to love a girl and like another at the same time? Apparently it was. Nate knew that he couldn't do this to Miley though. He can't leave her just to try things out with Alex. With Miley, he knew that he'll still be living happily with her. With Alex, he knew that they wouldn't last long. So, Nate shook all of his remaining thoughts and feelings towards Alex. He loves Miley. He hates Alex. It's been like that since the beginning of time.

But could he actually do it?

OMJ

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that he has a huge crush on you, Alex! You should ask him out!" Miley said, pointing at the cute senior boy. Alex opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by the sound of someone scoffing.

"A guy having a crush on Alex Russo? Either he's blind, or he just has a mental problem." Nate said, scooting next to Miley. Alex stared at Nate, confused. She was speechless. Nate felt a small pang of guilt, but he ignored it. "Probably both. What guy could possibly like Alex?" Nate said, more coldly that he intended to. Alex stifled a sob as she stared down at her food. She knew what Nate was doing. He was making a point. He was telling Alex that they can't and won't be together.

Miley slapped Nate's arm once she saw the hurt look on Alex's face. "Nate! Don't be mean!" she said. Everyone at the table looked at Alex, expecting a witty comeback or a painfully physical hit. To their surprise, she just stood still and quiet, her eyes never leaving her food. "Nate, look what you did-" but Miley was cut off by Nate's lips on hers. Alex gasped as she stared at them. Miley instantly forgot what was going on and she wrapped her arms around Nate's neck, pulling him closer.

Alex quickly excused herself and ran full-speed to the girls' bathroom. Once she locked herself inside of a stall, she slid down the wall and tried her best not to cry. Alex covered her face, feeling the tears from the back of her eyes. Nate was doing this to her on purpose. He was proving to her that he doesn't like her in the most painful way possible.

As insane as it is, Nate was making Alex want him even more. What she would do to be in Miley's position right now. She just wanted to feel Nate's kiss upon her lips again. She wanted to feel that amazing sensation run through her body as he touched her again. She just wanted Nate to be hers. All hers and only hers.

She knew that that wasn't going to happen.

OMJ

Nate pulled away from Miley once he noticed Alex's absence. He felt even more guilt as he realized all the pain that he just caused her. Though, he shook it off and looked back at his girlfriend. Miley was looking giddy and dazed. "What was that for?" she giggled, kissing his nose. Nate smiled shyly at her.

"For not shutting up." he winked. Miley laughed and sat straight forward. She then frowned as she saw the empty seat in front of her.

"Where's Alex?" she asked. Nate frowned and shrugged. "Oh, god, I know that she is going to ignore me the whole day now. Ugh, why do you have to be such a good kisser?" she whined. Nate laughed and pecked Miley's lips one more time.

"I'm just amazing like that." he joked. Miley wasn't smiling though. She was still worried about Alex.

"Do you think she's okay?" she asked, standing up. She didn't let Nate answer though. "I'm going to find her." she said. With that, she quickly walked out of the cafeteria and headed straight for the girls' bathroom. She looked down to check if anyone was in the stalls. She sighed once she found Alex's black Converse shoes. "Alex?" Miley called out as she crawled under the stall to be with Alex. Alex instantly turned away from her, facing a corner. "Oh, my god, are you crying?! Alex, what's wrong?! Did I do something?!" Miley panicked.

"It's nothing. Absolutely nothing." Alex said, her voice cracking. "Nothing that concerns you anyways." she mumbled.

"Who did this to you?!" Miley demanded. She hugged Alex, letting her cry on her shoulder.

"It's nothing." Alex assured Miley. Miley sighed and hugged her tightly. Alex let out another small sob. She closed her eyes tightly and buried her face in Miley's shoulder. Alex was feeling a pain like none other before. Tears couldn't even relieve the pain. Alex knew who could, but she didn't bother. He's already done enough.

OMJ

Alex walked out of the school wordlessly. She sighed, feeling gloomy and desperate. She couldn't believe how much she liked Nate. The fact she'd cried over him said enough. Alex shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. She just couldn't believe how much she wanted Nate, how much she needed him.

Alex jumped once she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly and frowned. "What do you want?" she asked Nate. She shrugged his shoulder off and started walking towards the streets. Nate quickly followed behind her until he was at her side. He then grabbed her hand and dragged her somewhere quiet. "What are you doing?" Alex demanded as she tried to pull away. "Nate, what the hell?!" she yelled as he pulled her along with him even harder.

The two stopped behind the bleachers. Nate let go of Alex's arm. Instead of running away, Alex stood there. She felt like she couldn't move under Nate's stare. "I like you, okay? I really, really like you. But I'm not allowed to! I don't want to like you, but I just do! And the worst part of all is that I have a girlfriend who happens to be your best friend! God, why do I have to like you?!" Nate yelled, revealing everything he's been thinking about the past couple of days.

"Well don't get mad at me because I like you too! I hate you so freaking much, but I like you! The only reason why I'm ignoring you and Miley is because I can't take the fact that you're _her_ boyfriend instead of _mine_!" Alex yelled back. The two breathed heavily, realizing that they just poured out their deepest secrets to each other. "I hate everything about you, but after all of that, I still want you." Alex concluded once her steam was fully released.

Nate stared at her. Without even thinking, he pulled her against him and kissed her passionately. Alex held onto Nate's shoulders as she felt Nate's arms wrap around her waist. Alex pulled away once she felt Nate begging for entrance. She rested her forehead on his and they just stared at each other. "What does this…make us?" she whispered. Nate didn't answer. "I mean, I know you still love Miley." The second those words left her lips, Nate let go of Alex. He took a step back from her.

"Yeah, I love Miley…but it's like there's another place in my heart that's just for you." Nate said.

Another silence passed between the two. It was soon irrupted when Alex kissed Nate's lips again. This time, they didn't pull apart.

**A/N: Thank you oh-so much for the amazing reviews! You guys are so awesome! Sorry I don't reply to all of you guys but I try my very best to! I just want to say that if you think that this story is too fast, there's a _reason_ for that. There's always a reason for everything when it comes to my stories. lol. Once again, you guys rock! Now I'm going to go and update About You Now since you peoples keep on bugging me about it. lol**


	4. Chapter 4

_"I hate you, but I love you. I can't stop thinking about you."  
_Stuck by Stacie Orrico

"I really don't want to hurt Miley." Nate said, finally pulling away from his spark filled kiss with Alex. They stared at each other, knowing that hurting Miley was the last thing that either of them wanted to do. "She's still my girlfriend…your best friend. I don't think I should break up with her…just like that." he said, trying to say his words right without hurting Alex's feelings. Alex nodded and looked down.

"I-I can't believe myself. I mean, I'm Miley's best friend for God's sake!" she said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Nate sighed and pulled her into a heart filled hug. "But I still really like you. I still want to date you. I still…want to be Miley's best friend."

"I wan to date you too, but I still want to be Miley's girlfriend." Nate whispered into her ear. Alex pulled away from him to look him straight into his eyes.

"Then why can't you?" she asked, her eyes getting glossy. Nate looked at Alex, shocked once again.

"What? Are you telling me to cheat?" he asked.

"Miley won't ever know." Alex squeaked, looking down as guilt traveled quickly around her body. "No one will." Nate tilted Alex's chin up so that they were looking into each other's eyes again. He leaned down and kissed her lips softly.

"No one will no. Promise?" he whispered against her lips. Alex nodded slowly before Nate kissed her again.

OMJ

"Ha, and I win!" Miley said to Nate after she beat him at chess again. "And I think that I deserve a prize." she said, smirking seductively. Nate grinned handsomely and kissed her lips gently. Miley giggled as he slowly pulled away. "What about another one, Nate?" she asked, blushing. Nate smirked at her and kissed her lips one more time, this time, it seemed to last longer.

Alex walked into Miley's house and frowned to what she saw. A wave of wrath hit her, but she shrugged it off, telling herself not to make a scene. "Hello, peoples of the Stewart's home!" Alex practically screamed into the couple's ears as she walked inside of the living room. Apparently, Alex didn't listen to herself either. Nate instantly pulled away once he heard Alex's voice; his cheeks flushed. She stared at Nate angrily before looking back at Miley obnoxiously. "Hey, Miles. Who invited the donkey?" Alex asked, sounding annoyed as she pointed at Nate.

"Hey!" Nate yelled, obviously offended, and chucked a pillow in her direction. Alex quickly dodged it and stuck her tongue out at him. Nate rolled his eyes and sunk back down into the sofa. "God, why did you have to invite the killjoy?" he asked Miley, giving her a fake disappointed look. Alex scoffed.

"Coming from the loser who's actually making his girlfriend play_ chess _with him? What are you, a loser and a nerd?" Alex retorted. Nate couldn't help but smile. The way Alex looked like when she was steaming was just so cute to his eyes. Once Alex saw Nate smiling at her, she looked down shyly and blushed. Miley looked at the two, confused to why they stopped arguing. She gave them puzzled looks.

"Um, anyways, I just wanted to hang out with the two of you today! What's better than spending time with my adorable boyfriend and my awesome best friend?" Miley said, brightening up the awkward situation. Nate and Alex snapped out of their trance and glared at Miley.

"You did what?!" the yelled in unison.

"Miles, you know that we can't stand each other. What's were you thinking? Did you seriously want us to start a World War III?!" Alex yelled as she made her way onto the couch and sat next to Miley, folding her arms in a frustrated manor. Nate tried his best not to smile at her again.

"People will probably cause a riot at your house if they found out that you're the reason for the next global war, Miles." Nate said in a bored voice. Alex glared at him, but Nate sent her a stealthy wink. Alex blushed and looked down again.

"Just deal with it today, guys. Now, I'll be right back." Miley said, not noticing at all. She got up and walked all the way to her room. When the Miley closed her door shut, Nate and Alex turned back to each other.

"You think she bought that?" Nate asked, worried. Alex smiled at him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Duh, but you really need to work on controlling yourself. Act like that Nate Gray that I've always hated when you're around Miley." Alex joked, winking at him. Nate smirked at her, edging closer towards her so that their chests were touching. Alex felt incapable of breathing as Nate was just _so freaking close_ to her. He held onto her hands softly as he pinned her against the couch.

"And how should I act when I'm not around Miley?" he asked, almost seductively. Alex giggled, pushing him away slightly so that she could breathe again.

"However you want to, Nate. How ever you want." Alex answered back. Nate's smirk grew even bigger as his hands moved onto Alex's thighs. He leaned near her ear, and Alex could feel his warm breath tickle her skin. She tried not to squeal as she kept on smiling at him, her face turning redder and redder by the second.

"So since Miley is away, could I do this?" he asked innocently, kissing her neck. "And this?" he repeated, placing a chaste kiss even lower. Alex laughed, feeling giddy and ticklish. She pushed Nate away again, still laughing. Nate smiled brightly at her, sighing in content. No, he was feeling better than content. He was happy…just the way he is when he was with Miley. Nate shook Miley away from his head and focused back on Alex.

"I rather have you do this." she said, pulling him until their lips met. It was another simple kiss, but even if it was so simple, they enjoyed it completely. Alex surprised herself by having the urge to wanting more to this small kiss. She never really made out with any boy (something else Miley was number one at instead of her), and she really didn't want anyone to know that. She would always stop the boy, tell him no. Alex couldn't understand her feelings with Nate though. She wanted more.

The two heard Miley open her door again and they immediately pulled away. They fixed their appearance and scooted away from each other, putting back their intense hatred looks they faked around with each other. Alex tried not to groan as she thought how Miley had the worst timing. She looked back at Nate, her blush never leaving her cheeks. Nate smirked at her again, blowing a small air kiss at her. Alex giggled and blew one back at him.

"So did you guys behave while I was gone?" Miley asked as she walked into the living room, sounding like a strict mother. Nate and Alex tried not to laugh (or groan) at the irony.

"Depends on what you think behaving is." Alex replied. Nate snickered then received an inconspicuous smack from Alex. Miley laughed and sat in between the two again. "So tell me why you invited both of us over so I could make up a lie to leave?" Alex said while she checked her fingernails. Miley sighed.

"Well, I'm just sick and tired of you guys arguing _all the time_." Miley said, emphasizing the last three words. Nate and Alex looked at her as if they didn't care at all. Miley groaned. "And I kind of want you to stop. You know, be friends?" she added, getting annoyed. Nate and Alex gave Miley a look. They stared at each other then burst into laughter.

"Oh, my god! Me and him - friends? Ha!" Alex laughed. She was close to tearing up. Nate laughed along with her, clutching his stomach and his face turning red.

"For once I agree with her! We could never be friends!" he said. Miley frowned and sighed.

"Yeah, I knew it was too good to be true. I tried to do this on Friday night, but I ended up cancelling on you guys. I was hoping that you two didn't kill each other at the park." Miley said, shaking her head. "I guess you two just can't be friends. Even for me." she said, trying to make the two feel guilty. Nate gave Miley a look.

"Oh, come on, Miley. It's not that much of a big deal. Alex and I have been hating each other since we were five. After years, you should be used to this by now. It's like you're attempting to change the course of history or something." he said.

"Yeah, attempting." Alex scoffed. "Look, as much as I love you, Miles, I just hate your boyfriend. It's that simple, and you could never change that fact. Just the way you can't change one plus one." Alex said, patting Miley's arm. "Now, I gotta go. I don't feel like lying about not wanting to spend time with Nate since it's pretty obvious." she said, standing up. She gave Miley a hug and messed Nate's hair up as she left the house.

"Ugh, she touched my hair!" Nate complained, ruffling all signs of Alex away from it. Miley laughed weakly and hugged Nate's stomach, resting her head on his chest. Nate sighed and held onto her shoulders. "I know that you really want me and Alex to be friends, but we just can't. We can't just be friends." he said, kissing her forehead. Miley sighed again and nodded her head.

And Nate wasn't lying there.

OMJ

"What took you so long?" Alex whispered as she stepped out of her house quietly. She closed the door behind her silently, making sure that there were no signs of her sneaking out of her home. Nate greeted her with a peck on the cheek before taking her hand.

"Sorry, it just took a while for my parents to let me out of the house since it's almost dinner time for us." Nate said with an eye roll. Alex giggled and they walked along the sidewalk. "Do you think we should be doing this though? I mean, someone is bound to catch us and tell Miley. It's not even dark outside." Nate said, anxiety overcoming his brain again. Alex sighed and stepped in front of Nate, holding onto his hands.

"We're going to have fun. Just you and me together, having mindless fun today. No one will catch us together and Miley won't find out, alright?" she said sweetly, trying to ease his worry. Nate sighed and nodded his head. Alex pecked his lips, smiling at him. Nate gave her a small grin and poked her side. "Plus, you're not the only one who's guilty here. Miley is my best friend if you've forgotten. This isn't easy for me either."

"Then why did you beg to date?" Nate asked. Alex sighed, feeling hypocritical. She looked down, experiencing the dreadful emotion of guilt stir up inside her again.

"There's just something about you…something inevitable. I want to ignore you, I want to hate you, I want to kick you, but I want to lo-" Alex cleared her throat, stopping herself, "-like you. And I do, I really, really do." she said, looking sadly into Nate's eyes. Nate caressed her face, smiling weakly at her.

"And I really like you too." he whispered before placing a sweet kiss on her lips. _Yeah, like…what about love?_ Alex thought as Nate kissed her. She soon forgot about her though as sparks pervade throughout her body. Alex smiled into their chaste kiss as she wrapped her arms around Nate's neck; she felt a burst of tingles shivering across her back. She's never felt so good in her life, never so free.

"I think we should start walking." Nate laughed, pulling away. Alex blushed and took his hand; the two began to walked on the sidewalk, stepping on the sunlight that outlined the cracks on the asphalt. They felt different as their hands intertwined. It was like the wind change its direction, or the earth began to revolve the other way around. Maybe it was because they were so used to hating each other, liking each other was just so weird. As weird as it is though, it's hardly difficult. Yes, they felt like they were in topsy-turvy town, but they felt right at the same time.

"I don't think we got to finish our game." Alex said, nudging his side as they headed towards downtown. They could smell the aroma coming from the restaurants and feel the rush of the cold wind, caused by the fast cars near them. They dodged other bystanders as they walked along, not knowing where their destination is.

"I guess you're right. Which reminds me - I still want to see your art." Nate said, smiling down at her. Alex scoffed.

"Yeah, not gonna happen unless I get to see your music. If that even is music." she said slyly, smirking at him.

"Oh, harsh." Nate joked. Alex laughed and leaned on his arm. "So, if I show you my music then will you show me your art?" Nate asked, giving her a twinkling smile that Alex just couldn't resist. She was ready to even show Nate her diary if he kept on smiling like that.

"_Yes_." Alex said, defeated.

"Great! Come on, let's go over to my house." Nate said, turning the other direction and dragging Alex towards his house. Alex mentally groaned, not wanting to show Nate her work. Like Nate and his music, she's never showed anyone her artwork, and she doesn't intend to either. "My parents won't really bother us, but my brothers are pains." Nate explained to her as they neared his house. Alex gulped heavily. _Parents?_ She's not the girlfriend of the situation, she's the other woman. She didn't want to meet Nate's parents and give them that impression!

"Umm, meeting your parents?" Alex squeaked. Nate flashed her an assuring smile.

"Yeah, why not? They love meeting all my new 'friends' anyways." Nate winked at her as they walked closer and closer towards his house. Alex blushed, feeling like putty in his hands. Nate was just so irresistible to her eyes. "They probably won't notice us either. They're always doing their work._"_

Alex and Nate stepped into the Gray house. Alex looked around, feeling the instant heat hover over her skin. She took off her jacket and held it in between her arms as she awkwardly followed Nate upstairs to his room. She looked left and right to see the whole entire house filled with hospitable furniture with warm colors sparkling in every corner. She smiled, feeling welcomed. Her smile instantly vanished once she came in contact with the rest of the Gray family.

Jason Gray had Shane Gray in a headlock while Shane was trying to push Jason away. Nate rolled his eyes and sighed of embarrassment. Alex on the other hand just stared, not knowing whether to laugh or call the police station. "Oh, god, guys." Nate whined, running a hand through his curly hair with frustration and obvious annoyance.

"If you're going to blame someone, blame him! The idiot took my guitar and almost pushed it off the roof! Thank God I was there to grab it before he actually did it!" Jason said, defending himself. "Could you believe this kid? He's a freaking maniac!" he yelled. Shane rammed Jason into the nearest object, shutting him up.

"I told you, it was an _experiment_!" Shane snapped back, attempting to make himself not sound stupid as Jason put.

"For what? If my guitar would smash into pieces once you push it off a story down?! If you really wanted to know the answer, use something called _common sense_!"

"Guys," Nate yelled, "we have a guest!" he said, trying to be as calm as possible. Shane and Jason immediately stopped moving and looked at Alex. They smiled at her and waved, still staying in their position.

"Hey, um, Nate's friend." Shane said. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Alex…Russo." Alex said nervously.

"Oh…" the two older brothers said in unison. Suddenly, their eyes lit up and they begin to smirk as wide as ever. "_Oh_! You're the Alex Russo?!" they yelled simultaneously, excitement in their faces. Alex giggled a little and nodded her head, somewhat flattered. Jason released Shane from the headlock, and Shane moved away from Jason so that they were feet apart.

"So _you're_ the infamous Alex Russo Nate constantly won't stop complaining about." Jason said. Alex laughed and nodded her head again while Nate turned red, infuriated. Jason stuck out his hand. "It's an honor to meet you. What you've done to Nate is legendary." Alex couldn't stop smiling as she shook Jason's hand.

"Yeah! I mean, you glued his most embarrassing things in front of your whole school! You poured the crappiest crap on his head and in other places! You actually made him _cry_ for God's sake! I bow down to you, Alex Russo." Shane said, literally bowing down. Alex covered her mouth to stop her from laughing so much while Nate has never been more angry and embarrassed in his life.

"It's nothing." she said, trying to be modest. She looked at Nate, giggling at his expression.

"Nothing? You've done the worst pranks on Nate that Shane and I could only dream of!" Jason said. "But I'd never expect Nate to invite you over." he said, snickering at his mortified little brother. "Oh, yeah, and where's Miley? Isn't she, like, Alex's best friend or something?"

"We, um, Alex and I had a school project to do. Our stupid teacher just _had_ to pair us up." Nate said, glaring at Alex. Alex glared back at him and shook her head.

"It's like getting paired up with the spawn of Satan." she said. Nate sighed and rolled his eyes. He grabbed Alex's arm and dragged her into his room. "Well, I'll see you guys later!" she smiled, quickly waving goodbye to Shane and Jason. Nate pulled her into his room and closed and locked the door securely as fast as he could. He pinned Alex onto his door and let out a sigh of relief.

"You have a big mouth." he said, poking Alex in the arm playfully. Alex smirked.

"So…you talk about me?" she said.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. I think the key word is _complain_." Nate said, smirking right back at her.

"Yet, the goody-goody Nathaniel Gray still talks about his sworn enemy, the notorious Alex Russo." Alex said in an overdramatic voice as she pushed Nate off of her and sat on his bed. Nate shook his head but kept his smile on as he sat right next to her on his bed. Alex looked around and smiled, happy to see that there were barely any pictures of him and Miley or signs of their relationship. She felt guilt inflicted into her as she found a small picture of Nate and Miley near his bed stand but ignored it. She turned back to Nate, giving him a toothy grin. "So your music?" she said, excited.

Nate bent down to reach something under his bed. "Okay, but you have to promise to show me your art next time. Promise?" he said as he picked up a composition notebook with a bunch of music notes and names of famous bands on the front. Alex nodded her head and took the book from Nate's hands. She flipped through the pages as Nate stared at her, looking through every song, imagining every melody, silently hearing Nate's voice in her ears.

"Could you sing some from me?" Alex asked, giving Nate a shy smirk. Nate widened his eyes and shook his head no. "Aw, come on! Miley said that you're really good at singing! Please, Nate? Sing for me?" Alex pleaded, hugging his stomach. Nate laughed as he continued to shake his head. Alex kissed his cheek. "Please?" she whispered.

"No." Nate said, blushing slightly. She kissed his cheek again, and Nate shook his head once more. Alex took Nate's face into her small hands and turned his head so that he was facing her. She pulled him softly onto her lips and kissed him. She slowly released, smiling childishly at him. "Um…okay." he said, dazed. Alex giggled as Nate reached for his guitar and picked up his songbook.

"So what is Nate Gray going to sing for me today?" Alex asked as she wrapped her arms around Nate's neck and peered over his shoulder. Nate smiled as he flipped through the pages. As they stayed in that positioned, that awkward loner feeling inside of them faded off. They felt like they were doing things like this for years. It was like, it was correct if Alex had her arms around Nate, it was correct if Nate was serenading Alex.

"It's a surprise." he answered back. He stopped at one page that was didn't have a title. Alex glanced at the page, noticing that he just recently started on it. Nate only had part of the first verse on it. Alex smiled as she read over the first couple of lyrics Nate has written. She smiled, wondering what it sounded like in song.

"So sing." Alex whispered, eager to finally hear Nate's voice. Nate turned red again.

"Okay, I really don't want to sing, but I'll play it for you. That's the most I'll do." he said. Alex sighed and ruffled up his hair.

"Fine." she said, defeated once again. So Nate strummed the guitar, playing while humming the sound of the lyrics. Alex closed her eyes and smiled as she leaned her chin on Nate's shoulder, resting her head by his. She felt like she was floating on a cloud, drifting away into a beyond, just hearing the sound of Nate's voice echoing all around her.

She was taken by surprise when the someone started banging on the door. They separated from each other and sat on the far side of the bed, putting on their fake faces of annoyance towards one another. Nate walked up to the door to open it. He rolled his eyes to see Shane again. "Mom said that we'll be having dinner soon. Alex, you could have dinner with us if you want to." Shane said, smiling at her. Alex stood up and fixed her ruffled shirt.

"It's okay. My parents probably want me to have dinner with them. Thanks for the offer though. I'll see you later, guys." she said, smiling at Shane as she brushed past Nate's shoulder. "Um, the project, Nate, um, we'll continue it tomorrow." Alex said, eyeing his guitar. Nate nodded his head, understanding that she wanted to hear the rest of the song tomorrow. Alex nodded as well, her eyes glued to the floor. She turned around on her heel and walked away, out of the house.

"Wow, she's hot." Shane said once Alex closed the door behind her. Nate tensed, trying not to glare at his brother.

"Gross." he said, shuddering.

"Hey, is she single?" Shane asked, smirking. Nate couldn't help it. He wanted to hit Shane right there.

"Well, she's too young for you." Nate said, a little too quickly and a little to angrily. Shane raised an eyebrow and smirked at his brother.

"And she's just absolutely perfect for you?" he said.

"Yeah-" Nate stopped and bit his tongue. "Your point?"

"Do you hate Alex?" Nate gave Shane a weird look. This is the girl he's been insulting and rambling about to his brothers since he was five. How could Shane forget already? Nate nodded his head, thinking about how much an idiot his brother is. "And you love Miley?" Shane continued, his devious smirk never leaving his lips. Nate nodded his head again, this time slower. He gave Shane a serious look, wondering where he was leading on. "Wow, Nate, I never thought of you as the cheater type."

"What?!" Nate yelled. He almost fell flat off his feet as those words ran through Shane's mouth. How could Shane - the most dumbest person ever, second to Jason - find out that he was cheating on his girlfriend _that fast_?! Shane just met Alex today, and she and Nate made sure to be stealthy inside of his house. How could Shane possibly even assume it?

Shane burst into laughter as he watched Nate's expression. "I knew it! You guys are hooking up behind Miley's back!" Nate covered Shane's mouth, elbowing him in the stomach.

"Shut up!" Nate whispered. He pulled Shane into his room and released his grip from him. "How the heck did you even know?!" Nate yelled, nervous beyond compare. Shane scoffed.

"Yeah, like it wasn't obvious. Please, if you hated her like you _did_ before, you guys would be at the library instead of our house doing this so called project. Plus, I overheard you guys acting all goo-goo gaga, and you playing one of your songs for her. You never let Miley hear your songs, Nate." Shane said. Nate ignored his last sentence, trying to find a way to get back at Shane later on.

"Overheard or eavesdropped?" Nate asked, his eyebrow raised.

"That doesn't matter. What's important is that you can't cheat." Nate rolled his eyes, thinking about how much of a hypocrite his brother is being right now. Shane shook his head. "Yes, I've cheated before, and I know how they all end up. _Badly._ I know it's hard loving two girls, Nate. But you have to choose only one because in the end, not only your heart will be broken, theirs will be too. It's even worse to see them heartbroken then it is you. Now tell me, Nate, do you like Alex or…do you feel that something else?"

Nate stared into space, not knowing the answer. He touched his chest, feeling his heart thump in its slow pattern. _Do I like Alex or… do I feel that something else?_ he asked himself. He thought about it, thinking about how he treated both of them equally. Not really equally, but the same. Both with respect, kindness, and…love. He loved Miley, that's for sure. But what about Alex? He would never cheat on Miley if he just _liked_ Alex. No, he had to feel something more with that. The sparks he felt when he kissed her, the way he would melt as she smiled gloriously up at him, the way he would just want to be with her the whole time.

Just the way he feels when he's with Miley.

"I…hate her." Nate said, finally looking at Shane's eyes. Shane raised an eyebrow and folded his arms, looking like he was waiting for Nate to continue on. Nate sighed and rubbed his head. "And I love her." he muttered.

**A/N: Wow, apparently I'm in love with this new series becuase I seriously just can't stop writing! I wouldn't be surprised if I updated tomorrow or something. (Probably not, but you never know.) I haven't updated this fast since, like, last summer! It's mainly all thanks to you guys and your awesome reviews. They're making me really happy! You guys rock!**


	5. Chapter 5

_"How can something so wrong feel so right all along?"  
_Catch Me I'm Fallin' by Toni Gonzaga

"Wow, I haven't been to your place for like _ever_!" Miley said as she stepped into Alex's house. They dropped their backpacks next to the door and threw their jackets on the couch, like they've always had since they were little. Alex laughed as they made their way upstairs into her room. "Hey, does your brother still have that creepy crush on me?" Miley giggled as they passed by Max's room. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Shhh, don't make a sound. He'll leave us alone if he doesn't know that you're here." She whispered, and they quietly walked into Alex's bedroom. Miley giggled again and followed Alex into her mess of a room. "Okay, welcome back to Alex's amazing room!" Alex said, throwing her hands up in the air like she was presenting the world's greatest thing. Miley laughed and stepped over the many items lying around on Alex's floor.

"I see that you haven't cleaned your room yet." Miley said, finally sitting down on Alex's bed.

"Yeah, like I would clean." Alex scoffed. Miley laughed and looked around the room.

"So should we start our homework now?" she asked, looking back at Alex. Alex gave Miley a look.

"When you say we, you mean you right?" Alex asked. Miley laughed.

"Yes, I mean me."

"Then be my guest." Miley laughed again and got up, trying to maneuver around Alex's room. "Having trouble finding the door?" Alex asked, laughing a little as she watched Miley trip seven times already.

"No, but I can't find your floor." Miley answered back. She tripped again, landing hard on a mountain of Alex's clothes. She and Alex ended up laughing as Miley tried to stand up again. Her laughter ended when something familiar caught her eye. Miley bent down in front of it and picked it up. She raised an eyebrow with confusion. "What's Nate's jacket doing here?" she asked, looking at Alex. Alex bit her lip as she stared blankly at Miley and the black leather jacket in her hands. She felt like her heart was going overdrive and that her body was incapable of moving. Alex shook her nervousness away quickly, trying to find another answer to this.

_Dammit! Why didn't you give the freaking jacket back to him?!_ Alex mentally screamed. She frowned, realizing that the only reason why she didn't give it back to Nate was because she wanted a piece of him all to herself. Miley had all the pictures, all the jewelry, and all the flowers. Alex just wanted Nate's simple black leather jacket just to remind herself that she belongs to Nate as well, that he's hers too. Alex wanted to punch herself for being so selfish.

"It's, umm, sitting there." Alex said matter-of-factly, trying to sound innocent. Miley gave Alex a weird look. She looked back at the jacket, looking hurt and so confused. Alex bit her lip even harder. So much guilt was entering inside of her that she actually wanted to tell Miley the truth. She shook that feeling away from her though, knowing what a big mistake that would have been. "I stole it from Nate's locker one day. He was pissing me off so I decided to take his stupid little jacket." Alex said, rolling her eyes. Miley's sad look wore off, and she gave Alex the look that she always gave her when it came to playing pranks Nate.

"Oh, that figures. I'll just give it back to him." Miley said, folding the jacket in her arms. Alex wanted to protest, tell Miley no. She didn't want her to take the last remaining thing - the only thing – that she has from Nate. Alex watched Miley as she continued to walk toward the door, Nate's jacket in her hands. What could Alex say when there was nothing to say? Alex sighed and hugged her knees, knowing that she had to let Miley win _again_.

Alex felt embarrassed for a moment. Why would be so devastated over losing a jacket? She sighed, knowing that it was something more. Losing that jacket was like the same thing as a woman losing her husband to Alex. It was one of the few signs that Nate had feelings for her. Nate gave her that jacket because he cared, because he wanted Alex to be safe. He would have immediately asked for the jacket back if he didn't care about Alex. But he didn't. It was like Nate wanted Alex to remember him whenever she needed a sweater. He wanted her to remember him when she was cold, knowing that he could provide that warmth for her.

Alex sighed, knowing that at least Nate cares for her a little even without the jacket. She was the only one who got to hear part of his songs, and that was a huge privilege for anyone. His music was another sign. It was his way of expression, like a diary. It was like Nate just allowed Alex to read his diary. A smile hopped onto Alex's face, realizing that Nate trusted her. And that he really did like her.

Her smile wore off as Miley returned with both their backpacks. "Okay, time to do our homework!" she cheered, pretending to be enthusiastic. Alex groaned and buried her face into the blankets of her bed. Miley's phone began to ring. Her face illuminated as she read the caller ID. "Oh, it's Natey. This will be quick." She said, stepping outside of the room.

Alex grimaced. _Natey_. Miley's pet name for Nate. Alex thought that she was used to the stupid nickname since Miley would almost always call Nate 'Natey', but now it just felt different. It was more annoying, more aggravating, more hurtful. Alex nuzzled her nose into the cloth of her sleeve, thinking – knowing – that Miley and Nate's relationship was stronger, better, amazing. They were Niley, Nate and Miley. And they were better than Nalex.

Alex knew what she had to do. She's never felt so much adrenaline, so much determination in her life. She wanted to beat Miley and keep Nate all to herself. The guilt wore off and was quickly replaced by jealousy. Alex wanted Nate, she loved Nate. And no one was going to stand in her way for him.

Not even her only best friend.

OMJ

"Hey, Nate, Miley." Alex said as she walked up to her best friend and her boyfriend. She leaned against the lockers as she stared at the two innocently, smiling perfectly, and looking beautiful as usual. Nate's breath hitched in his throat as he looked at her. It was like she was doing this on purpose. She was seducing him in the most innocent way possible.

Miley knew there was something different from the way Alex arrived. She smiled at Alex quickly before turning back to her locker to get her books, thinking deeply about what just happened. The way Alex greeted them. Nate _then_ Miley. Miley couldn't help but think about something as little as that. Miley knew that Alex never even acknowledged Nate unless it was in some form of insult. Now she's putting Nate's name before her own?

Miley stared at Nate, instantly noticing his turned-on look. She looked at him, confused. Nate was a gentleman, a good person with morals, a teenage boy who knew how to control his hormones. Miley grew even more confused once she realized that Nate wasn't even looking at _her, _his _girlfriend._ Instead he was staring at _Alex_, his mouth hanging open slightly, and his eyes never leaving her. Miley's eyes widened as she looked at Nate and Alex, back and forth. She knew for sure that something was different.

Alex smirked at her victory. Nate was paying attention to her, his eyes were glued to her, he even seemed like he's never even heard of the name Miley Stewart. She then realized the alarmed but puzzled look on Miley's face. Alex grew a little worried, knowing that Miley would start throwing accusing questions at one of them anytime soon. Alex knew that she needed to start a fight with Nate soon or else Miley would suspect something. She wanted to win Nate, but she didn't want to make it that she was the reason for the Niley breakup. She wanted to just simply prove to Miley that Alex Russo is still number one at _everything _and _everyone._

"So, Nate did your mom pick out your clothes today or was it your grandma?" Alex asked, faking an enthusiastic voice. Nate snapped out of his teenage boy dreamland and glared at Alex.

"A matter of fact, my mom did pick my clothes today and she did a whole lot better than you did." Nate retorted, smirking at her. Alex narrowed her eyes at him then looked back at Miley. She smiled a little once she saw the relieved look on Miley's face.

"For once in my life, I'm so glad that you two are arguing." Miley muttered under her breath as she closed her locker. Nate frowned, hearing everything that she whispered. The stupid guilt was back, biting him in the ass again. Nate had the urge to kiss Miley right there, remind her that he still loves her. But Alex was here also, and he loves her too. How could he love both of them without hurting the other?

_Ugh. Shane was right. Loving two girls is really hard._ Nate thought as the three began to walk to their homerooms.

"Bye, Nate." Alex and Miley said simultaneously as they were about to turn. Miley gave Alex another confused look while Alex just kept her eyes on Nate, smiling brightly at him. Nate awkwardly smiled back at both of them, waving slightly as he began to run towards his class.

"Alex, I need a word." Miley said as she grabbed Alex's wrist and dragged her to the bathroom. Alex bit her lip, knowing that she made things a little too obvious. She mentally kicked herself for having lack of self-control. She blamed Nate for being too cute.

"Yes?" Alex asked as they stepped into the empty bathroom. The two girls looked in the mirror, seeing each other from their reflections. Alex fixed her hair, looking normal, pretending as if she did nothing wrong. Miley sighed and let her bangs fall to her eyes as she looked down.

"You and Nate are…getting a little…friendly." She said, but it was like a question, like a hint of fear in her voice. Alex wanted to rub it in Miley's face, gloat that she won and that she deserved Nate. But this was her best friend. If it was another straight A, goody-goody, innocent fifteen-year-old girl then Alex would have definitely laughed in her face, acting obnoxious and victorious.

"Is that a bad thing?" Alex asked, pretending to sound shocked. Miley opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't dare to answer. She didn't know what the answer even was. "I mean, you're always complaining about how me and Nate are enemies. Maybe I'm just attempting to be nice to him, so I wouldn't have to annoy you. 'Cause honestly, I'm starting to feel really bad that Nate and I piss you off with our fights." Miley felt like she was shrinking in size as Alex's words ran through her ears. All the pros and cons to this new nicer Alex and Nate were jumbling around her brain, and she didn't know what to look at.

Of course if Alex and Nate were friends then Miley would live an easier life. No more hearing insults and comebacks being fired after each other every five seconds, no more kicking the hallways, and more importantly, she wouldn't be caught up in the middle. She wouldn't need to take sides between Nate and Alex and feeling bad when the other was mad because she didn't agree with him or her.

Then there were the bad things. Nate and Alex could be something _more._ Miley thanked God everyday that Nate was hers. She knew that if Nate and Alex didn't hate each other, they would have been going out for a long time. They're almost exactly alike that it was scary. Sometimes when Alex would say something, Miley would think that it was Nate talking to her, just in a high pitch and obnoxious voice. Or when Nate was doing something, Miley could seriously imagine Alex doing the same thing. She could see Alex in Nate and Nate in Alex. She knew that they were meant for each other.

And that's what scared her the most.

"Miley?" Alex whispered, getting worried about the sad look on Miley's face. Miley snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Alex, trying to look cheerful and happy as she always does. Alex bit her lip, knowing that she couldn't do this to her best friend. But she just _had_ to. It was like Nate went from number a million to priorities list to number one, replacing Miley's place. "I don't have to be nice to Nate if you don't want me to." Alex blurted out. Miley's face lit up again, true joy showering over her face. She then relaxed herself, trying to look normal and laidback.

"Uh…I think we should go back to homeroom. You know how much our teacher hates it when we miss the morning announcements." Miley said, not answering to Alex's offer. Alex nodded her head and suppressed a sigh, knowing that Miley did want her to stop being kind to Nate though.

The two girls walked back to their homerooms. They had two options being thrown at them.

_Should I let Alex be friends with Nate or still enemies?_

_Should I betray Miley but still get to love Nate or be a true friend and stay loyal Miley but love Nate without him even knowing anymore?_

OMJ

"Hey," Shane greeted Nate as he walked through the front door. Nate nodded his head in response. Then Alex followed behind him, looking more comfortable than she did last time she entered the Gray house. Shane smirked and shook his head. Nate glared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." Shane said, shrugging. "Anyways, you guys have some 'project' to do upstairs in Nate's room." Alex gave Shane a confused look while Nate steamed up.

"Come on, Alex." Nate muttered, grabbing her arm and leading her upstairs to his room. Nate sighed once the door was closed and the knob was locked. He walked towards his bed and laid down on it, his face looking miserable and uneasy. Alex made her way and sat next to Nate, not knowing what to do. She couldn't handle the depressed look on his face. That fact that _she's_ the one who's causing him to feel like this. Alex placed a hand on top of his, looking at him warmly.

"Sorry." She mumbled, looking so apologetically into his eyes.

"You didn't do anything." Nate muttered back, turning his head to meet the other direction.

"Really? Because it seems like I did do something." Nate just stared at the opposite side, not meeting his eyes with Alex. Alex sighed and released her hands from his, standing up.

"I guess I should go home then…" she whispered, picking up her backpack. Nate immediately stood up, beating her to the door.

"No, don't go." He said, almost sounding as if he was begging. He placed his hands on Alex's shoulders, giving her an earnest look. "I'm just so confused and…_guilty_ all the time. This whole thing is eating me alive, and I don't think that I could take it anymore." Nate said. Alex looked down, her stomach dropping, her heart beating slower, and tears coming close to her eyes.

_I should have known_. She thought.

"So you want to stop?" Alex asked, her voice almost sounding like a cry. Nate's eyes widened.

"What? Why? I love you!" Alex instantly looked up at Nate, shocked. Nate closed his mouth quickly, regretting what he said. The two stared at each other, dumbfounded. "I-I uh, mean, that I-" Alex didn't let Nate finish.

"I love you too." She said, smiling at him. Nate froze. He felt like angels from heaven above just told him the greatest news ever. Alex pulled him in and kissed him as passionately as she has ever done. Nate smiled into the kiss and placed his hands on her hips, adding more lust into it. Alex pulled away to the point where Nate was desperately begging her for entrance. Nate looked at her, surprised once again.

"Why did we stop? Did I do something?" Nate asked. Alex turned red, feeling embarrassed. She didn't want to tell Nate that something as simple as a peck on the lips was all she's gone through with any boy, let alone, anyone else that goes to their school.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong." Alex said.

"Then why-"

"Hey, you said that you wanted to see my art right?" Alex blurted out. Nate looked like he completely forgotten their subject. His eyes glossed as Alex said those words and a smile formed on his lips. He nodded his head, looking eager. "Well why don't I show you right now? I mean, it's not like I was actually going to do my homework anyways." Alex said. She took Nate's hand and they walked downstairs

"Hey, Nate and Miley…wait…Alex?" Jason said as he stared at the intertwined hands in front of very own eyes. Nate and Alex looked at themselves and quickly pulled their hands away. "Oh sorry…I thought you were Miley." Jason said. He gave Nate a disappointed look before he continued to strum his guitar. "You know, Nate, Miley's my favorite girl that you've ever dated." Jason added, sounding more cold and bold. Alex looked down, thinking that Shane and Jason hated her. They loved Miley. Miley was the perfect girlfriend. Alex was just the other woman, the secret lover, the dessert behind the dinner, the _home wrecker. _She wished that they thought of her as Nate's enemy again instead of…all of those other things.

"Well she does sort of look like Miley, doesn't she?" Nate quickly said as he noticed the hurt look on Alex's face. Alex walked right through the front door, not daring to stop. Nate sighed and sent a quick glare at Jason before running after Alex. He grabbed her arm to stop her. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"You're brothers hate me, don't they?" Alex said, her voice trembling.

"I don't know. And if they did, they wouldn't have a reason to." Nate said. Alex sighed, pushing back the unwanted tears that were about to fall down.

"Come on, let's go to my place." She said, pulling away from Nate's grasp. She led the way back to her house, not uttering a single word or making eye-contact with Nate the whole way there.

As the two entered the house, Nate met Alex's younger brother, Max. "Hey, Maxi." Alex said, ruffling his hair as she set her backpack down in front of the coat hanger. "This is…Nate." Alex said, sounding worried and frightened as she introduced him. Max turned his attention from the television and looked at Nate.

"He's Miley's boyfriend who you're secretly dating right?" Max asked, looking at him. Nate raised his eyebrows as fury rose up in Alex.

"You read my diary again?!" she yelled, running after him. Max got up and started sprinting around the house, trying to dodge Alex as much as possible. "You little-"

"Justin!" Max yelped, hiding behind his older brother. Alex halted abruptly in front of Justin, trying to reach out for Max behind him.

"What the heck are you guys doing?" Justin asked as Max and Alex circled around him.

"The twerp read my diary!" Alex yelled.

"I just wanted to see if you had anything about Miley in there!" Max yelled back.

"Stop your stupid little crush on her because she has a boyfriend!"

"Yeah, he's Miley's boyfriend but that doesn't stop you from-"

Alex jumped around Justin and tackled Max to the floor, clasping a hand on his mouth before he could go on. "Alex?" Nate asked, looking awkward. The Russo children looked at Nate, completely forgetting that he was even there. "Uh, you wanted to show me your art." He said, reminding Alex why he was even there in the first place. "But if this is the wrong time I could come back next time."

"No!" Alex said, pushing Max away. She made her way towards Nate and panted slightly. "I'm done. Come on. Let me show you my room." Alex led the way upstairs into her room with Nate trailing behind her. She forced the door open with her all of her strength until it swung all the way open. Nate looked around Alex's room, surprised that a girl like her could be so messy. "Yeah, sorry, I don't clean my room." Alex laughed when she saw Nate's reaction. Nate smiled back at her.

"I think you beat Shane for most messiest room." He said as he stepped inside, trying to dodge any objects. He had to jump to Alex's bed to keep him from tripping. Alex laughed as she just simply stepped over her stuff as if they weren't even there. Nate patted the space besides him on Alex's bed and Alex sat there. "So your art?" he asked, imitating Alex's words from the other day. Alex smiled at him. She turned around and laid on her stomach, fishing out for something on the other side of the bed. She quickly pulled out a sketchpad.

"It's nothing really." Alex said as she handed it to Nate. Nate took it and slowly pulled it out to the first page. His eyes widened, and he gasped. He stared at the lifelike images Alex had drawn and painted. They were so _real_ and so _beautiful._ Nate turned from every page, taking in every single drawn-to-life art Alex created with just with her hands.

"It's nothing? This is amazing, Alex!" Nate exclaimed. He smiled at her. "You're really good." He said softly, looking at her sincerely. Alex blushed, feeling butterflies inside of her stomach again. Nate turned to the last page and his smile wore off. He looked serious as he stared at this page. It was a picture of Alex and Miley (though it looked like it could have been a photograph) hugging each other and laughing. Nate wanted this picture. He didn't know why, but he really wanted it. The way how Alex and Miley looked both so happy, so giggly, so loving. He just wanted to see that everyday.

"That's my favorite one." Alex whispered as she played around with her hair, twirling it awkwardly.

"Can I…have it?" Nate asked. Alex stared at him, puzzled. "I mean…it's just so…beautiful." Nate stared back at the picture, mesmerized. "You're so beautiful." He whispered, talking to both Miley and Alex. Alex blushed again, making her smile. Nate dropped the sketchpad and looked at Alex. "Really beautiful." He said, looking so amazed and sounding so sincere. He felt like some strange feeling came upon him. He just wanted to kiss Alex right here, right now. He could care less that the door was wide open and that Alex's brothers are downstairs or the fact that he's cheating on his girlfriend with her best friend. Nate pushed all of those feelings to the side and pulled Alex into a spontaneous kiss, expressing all of his love for her.

Alex surprised herself when she allowed Nate to kiss her like that. She closed her eyes, taking in the moment. This was the first time she's ever made out with anyone. Nate kissed her hungrily, just trying his best to make her happy. Anyways, that's what he wanted. To make Alex happy…to make Miley happy.

Alex squirmed a little as they kissed. Now Nate knew why she didn't want to make out with him earlier. She didn't even _know_ how. She was kissing him tenderly but feeling so cautious, timid, and inexperienced. Though by the way Alex was kissing him back right now, Nate could have been fooled.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Justin yelled as he walked through into Alex's room. Nate quickly pulled away, looking worriedly at Alex's older brother. Alex didn't dare to make eye contact with Justin. She just looked down at her bed and touched her lips, feeling a tremendous amount of wonder but guilt like none other before. "You, out." Justin said sternly at Nate, pointing out of the door. Nate nodded his head and ran as fast as he could out of the house. "And for you," he said, staring at Alex. Alex still looked unfazed, her fingers slightly touching her lips. "I can't believe that you would do this. I mean, he's your best friend's boyfriend!" Alex glared at Justin, furrowing her eyebrows at him.

"I love him, and he loves me." She stated, sounding so confident. "And you can't change that." She continued, standing up so that she was facing him. "You can't do anything about this. This isn't even your business actually!"

"Yes it is! If it concerns you then it concerns me. What you're doing is _wrong_, Alex. W-R-O-N-G wrong! You can't do this to Miley." Alex tried not to show any signs of guilt. She needed to be strong and tough. "And so what if you love him? What about Miley?"

"He just…happens to…love Miley too." Alex forced out. She felt like a hole burned through her throat as she finished her sentence. "Why would you care, huh?! Just go away and pretend like you don't even know anything! None of this concerns you!" Alex screamed at him, feeling rage. She attempted to shove Justin out of the door, but he held onto the doorframe tightly.

"Alex, what you're doing is wrong, and you'll regret it!" Justin said as he couldn't hold onto the doorframe any longer. Alex kicked him out and slammed the door on his face. "Don't say that I told you so when Miley finds out!" Justin yelled from behind the door. She heard him sigh in frustration before walking away. Alex frowned and slid down her door, trying not to cry again. She hugged her stomach as she stared into the open space, taking slow breaths to stop her from tearing. She stared at her drawing of her and Miley that Nate adored. Alex bit her lip, not knowing if she could control her tears any longer.

Alex knew that she and Miley would never look as happy like that anymore.

**A/N: And the drama begins! I can't believe that I went through five chapters with barely any drama! Ah! That's so weird for me! lol. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! It took me at least forever to update since my uncle got my laptop fixed! And guess what - Fanfiction is safe on my internet again! **


	6. Chapter 6

_"Don't say that you're sorry for breaking every inch of my heart."  
_Get Caught by Demi Lovato

**A/N: Sorry I just HAD to put that line in there! It's seriously my favorite line in that whole entire song!!! Oh, and this is chapter is dedicated to Denell! You are awesome!**

"Alright, so the Fine Arts Academy from New York is coming over to our school on Friday. If you want to be one of those lucky students who receives a college scholarship and a free tutorial class during summer vacation, then I suggest that you work up your little creative minds!" the announcer from the intercom said. For once in her life, Alex was actually listening to the morning announcements. Once she heard 'Fine Arts Academy', she remembered that she was actually in school.

"Oh, Alex, this is your chance!" Miley squealed once the announcements were over. Alex smiled back at her, having many different ideas to what to create and show being thrown around in her mind. "So what are you gonna do?" Miley asked, noticing Alex's 'thinking look'.

"I'm not sure. I don't think they'll like anything I give them though. My art is too…"

"Amazing?" Nate piped up. Miley and Alex looked at him, surprised. Alex smiled at him, blushing, while Miley gave him a confused look.

"Natey, what are you doing here? This isn't your homeroom." Miley said.

"What, you don't want your boyfriend here?" he joked.

"It's not that…it's just…" _How would _you_ know what Alex's art looks like?! She's never even showed me and I'm her_ best friend_! Why couldn't you two just go back to hating each other! Ugh, I should have never complained about how much you two were arguing! You two are sworn enemies, not best friends!_ Miley screamed in her mind.

"I just needed to give your books back. You left it out in the hallway. Plus, my teacher wouldn't rip my head off if I just missed the morning announcements." Nate said, handing Miley her text books with a note inside. Alex glanced at the note that hung over the edge of the book. Once she read the first three words, she instantly looked away, back at Nate.

"Why wouldn't you get in trouble? I _always_ do! It's like they can't get used to it!" Alex said, wondering why it was such a big deal.

"Well maybe it's because you always miss it, Alex." Nate laughed. Alex smiled up at him, feeling lost in his intense dark eyes. Miley grew alert again. She glanced down at her books, trying to find a way to get Nate to pour all of his attention on her before he left.

"Well, thank you, Nate." Miley said. She wanted to kiss him, but she knew better than to kiss someone in front of a teacher. So instead she hugged him tightly. Alex watched as the two wrapped their arms around each other. She stiffened as she saw Miley rubbing Nate…in a seductive way? Nate pulled away, surprised as well.

"I'll see you guys later." Nate said, still fazed. He smiled at his two girlfriends before walking off to his homeroom.

Miley sat down, satisfied, and smiled. Alex continued to stare at her, her mouth gaping open. Miley wasn't one to do that. She was so sweet and so pure. Alex didn't even know that Miley knew the word seductive! But there she was, seducing her fifteen-year-old boyfriend right before her eyes. Was Miley doing this to Alex on purpose? Was this a sign?

"Aw, look what Nate wrote to me. _I love you_." Miley said, pulling the note out. Those words stung Alex. She looked away from Miley and glared at her pens. The way Miley said those three words…it was like she was making sure that Alex heard the statement clear, that she was making another point. "Isn't he the best boyfriend ever? I'm so glad that he's _all mine._" Miley continued, emphasizing the right words again. Alex slumped down in her seat, gulping. "I don't know what I would do if I ever lost him." Miley sighed.

Alex knew that Miley was trying to make her feel guilty now. Like she wasn't guilty before! Alex laid her head on the desk and turned to the opposite direction away from Miley. She touched her stomach, feeling it churn in disgust. Alex wanted to throw a witty remark back at Miley, she wanted to brag in her face that Nate loves her too and how she's not the only girl in his life.

But she couldn't. She just couldn't.

OMJ

"Okay, for today's language arts class, I want you all to pair up into partners and create some sort of work together. You can make poems, short stories, riddles, anything you would like, and it could be about anything! Just remember that you and your partner will be reciting this at our next class together. I suggest that you all start finding your partners and work as much as possible!" the language arts teacher said.

Alex turned to find Miley on her way over to Nate. Alex frowned and stood up, walking quickly – almost running – to her before Miley could get to Nate. "Miley!" she called out. Miley stopped before she got to Nate's desk. Alex bit her lip as Miley and Nate stared at her. What was she supposed to say? _No, I want to be with Nate!_ Of course not. "Partners?" she asked, smiling at her best friend as innocently as possible.

"Um, well I was about to ask Nate…" Miley said, giving Alex a sorry look. Alex sent a glare towards Nate's way. Nate knew that he couldn't let that happen, but in some way he wanted it to happen. Alex would give him a cold shoulder, but Miley would reward him with kisses. What was he supposed to choose?

"It's okay, Miles. I'll just partner up with somebody else." Nate said, patting Miley's shoulder. Miley pouted at him, but Nate just kissed her hair and walked off to find another person to be partners with. Alex sat down in front of Nate's unoccupied desk, smiling in victory. Miley slumped down next to Alex, sighing. Alex smirked, knowing that this was payback for what Miley made her feel during homeroom.

"Oh, I didn't know that you didn't want to be my partners." Alex said, sounding like she was hurt. It took her all of her self-control not to laugh in Miley's shocked face.

"What?! No! Alex, I do want to be your partner, it's just that you don't do _any_ of the work! I'm sorry, I just don't want to be stuck with doing everything while you text on your cell phone and do absolutely nothing the whole time." Miley said. Alex bit her lip again, giving Miley a fake smile.

_Why are you so nice and why am I so lazy?!_ She thought angrily in her head.

"Well, I'll try to work with you. I'm sorry that you always end up doing the work. I never realized that. Actually, I thought you liked that. I promise to work this time...just don't hate me if I don't keep my promise though." Alex said, trying to add humor. Her trick worked and Miley started to giggle. She gave Alex a one armed hug.

"You know I love you, Alex." Miley said. Alex laughed awkwardly.

"I love you too, Miles." She said. Alex felt her lips seething with fire. Lie. That was a complete lie. If she loved her best friend then she wouldn't be dating her boyfriend behind her back. If she loved her best friend, she wouldn't be jealous of her only because Miley had something Alex couldn't have. If she loved her best friend, she wouldn't love Nate.

"Hmm, I wonder what we should write about. A romantic poem maybe?" Miley asked, grabbing her notebook and a pen. Alex pretended to gag and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, a poem unleashing our true desire to the most perfect man alive. It'll be full of hearts and flowers too! Then the last line would be declaring our love! Oh, I love you, I love you, I love you!" Alex said in an overdramatic voice with her hand on her chest. Miley ended up in a fit of giggles as Alex smirked back at her.

Alex turned slightly and met eyes with Nate. Nate smiled at her and winked subtly. Alex smiled shyly back at him before turning her attention back on Miley only to find her looking love struck again. "I can definitely do that though. Writing a lovey dovey poem is easy since I have the perfect inspiration right in this room." Miley said, smiling dreamily at Nate. Alex nodded her head, not looking up from Miley's notebook. She just couldn't stand they way they looked at each other. It made her twist and churn her heart like butter.

"Yeah…inspiration…Nate." Alex mumbled. She fiddled around with Miley's pen, trying to preoccupy herself. Miley sighed once she saw Nate staring concernedly at Alex. Though, Alex didn't even notice.

"Do you ever get the feeling that they guy you love the most is…doing something wrong?" Miley asked Alex. Alex gave Miley a look.

"What do you mean by that?" Miley hesitated, wondering if she should tell Alex. She was just having a feeling that Nate's love for her was beginning to fade off, like it was disappearing every passing moment. Yes, he still acts like he cares, he still shows Miley that he loves her, but each new gesture he makes, it's like things are beginning to change. Their _relationship_ was beginning to change. She knew that something was up with Alex and Nate, but she just wanted to make sure.

"Do you think Nate is cheating on me?" Miley asked, trying to sound like she's not accusing her best friend and tried to be as vague as possible. Alex dropped the pen on the floor. She felt like her muscles froze, her conscience yelling at her repeatedly, and that she was going to lose it.

"Um, why would you think that?" Alex laughed, giving Miley a 'you are crazy' look. Miley looked at her with a sad expression on her face. It took every single inch of tolerance inside of Alex for her not to start screaming. "Miley, seriously, this is _Nate_ we're talking about. You honestly think he's cheating on you?" Alex asked, trying to sound reasonable. Miley sighed. "Trust me; he's not cheating on you. I wouldn't make stuff like this up." Alex said as sincerely as possible. Miley smiled at her and hugged her again. Alex felt her skin burning as Miley touched her.

Lie. Lie. _Lie._

Nate stared at his two girlfriends. He frowned and looked down. It was just like the drawing Alex drew. They're hugging and looking like nothing in this world could separate them.

Nothing but him anyways.

OMJ

Miley sat between Nate and Alex during lunch. The three were quiet, just eating their food and staring down at the lunch meal. None of them uttered a word as seconds passed by. Miley sighed and leaned on Nate's shoulder, nuzzling her face in his neck. Alex stabbed her food as she watched them in the corner of her eye. Her mash potatoes ended up as mush as she let her anger out on them.

"What did your food do to you?" Miley laughed, amused. Alex tried not to glare at her. She didn't look up and pushed her food away. She folded her arms across her chest and stared darkly at the disaster she created with her food. Miley looked at Alex, concerned. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Alex sighed. She really needed some venting out to do. But how could she vent out her problem to her best friend if it does concern her? Alex bit her lip.

"Can I talk to you _alone_?" Alex asked Miley. Miley nodded and the two girls exited out of the cafeteria. Alex grabbed Miley's arm and ran as fast as she could towards the girls' bathroom. Miley followed behind her, wondering why Alex was such in a hurry. Once they entered the bathroom, Miley panted while Alex leaned against the wall and slid down. She frowned and rubbed her head. "I have a huge problem."

"What happened?" Miley asked, sitting next to Alex. Alex sighed.

"You have to promise not to tell, okay?" Miley nodded her head. Alex bit her lip and took a deep breath. "I'm dating someone." Miley gasped and jumped up.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?! Oh, is he cute? What's his name?" Miley asked. Alex put a hand on her mouth before she could continue on.

"The reason why I didn't tell you is because…he already has a girlfriend." Miley's eyes widened. Alex took in a shaky breath. "It sucks because I'm hopelessly in love with him, and he loves me too, but he loves his other girlfriend too. I…I'm really guilty about this. He's a sweetheart, the best kind of guy I've ever seen, and I love him, and for his girlfriend, she's _so freaking_ nice. It's eating me alive."

"Well I see how you have a problem there. A good friend would tell you to lay off because you're only getting yourself into trouble, and it's not right what you're doing. But a true friend would say: Alex, if you really love this guy, then you should fight for him. Show that other girl that you can love him more that she can." Miley said, wrapping an arm around Alex's shoulders. Alex rested her head on Miley's arm and sighed.

"But what if…you know this girl and she loves her boyfriend more than anything else in the world?" Miley gave Alex a look.

"Who in fact are you dating, and who's his other girlfriend?" Miley asked. Alex shook her head.

"You don't know them. They…don't go to this school." Alex lied. Miley caught the squeak in Alex's voice. She knew that she was lying, but she didn't want to accuse Alex more than she did before. Miley sighed and gave Alex a big hug. "I love him so much, but this is just so wrong. I – I don't know what to do anymore!"

"Just…love him. Go ahead and love him." Miley said, not knowing what else to say.

Alex couldn't believe the irony.

Miley felt things connecting as she and Alex hugged. She knew that Alex was lying through her teeth when she said that Miley didn't know who the secret boyfriend and his girlfriend is, but she didn't think too hard on that. Miley felt like she already _knew_ who they were anyways. More importantly, she felt like she was going to face a huge ordeal - they all will. Miley told herself to stay away from this. She didn't want to drag herself into all of this mess.

"I think that we should go back to the cafeteria and finish our lunch. I could tell that you're still really hungry." Alex said, snapping Miley out of her thoughts. Alex and Miley pulled away and walked back to the cafeteria, not looking straight at each other and keeping a distance between them.

Nate sighed in relief to find Alex and Miley walking back to the cafeteria. He thought for a second that Alex told Miley the whole truth. He smiled at the two girls. "Hey, everything's alright?" he asked sweetly, sending butterflies inside of both Alex and Miley's stomach. Miley sat back next to him and went back to her position under Nate's arm, snuggling with him again.

"Peachy." Alex said, faking a smile at both of them before slumping down in her chair. Nate frowned and sent Alex an apologetic look. Alex rested her chin on her hand and looked at the couple. Miley looked sad and confused as she stared down at her hands. She was sad because her best friend was in a midlife crisis but confused because she still didn't understand the mixed signals Nate and Alex were showing each other. Nate on the other hand just looked guilty as usual. He kept that happy, cool look on his face, but the lack of shine in his eyes showed that he felt like something was tearing up inside of him. "I can't do this anymore." Alex said, her voice trembling.

Nate and Miley looked up at her. Alex's eyes watered. "I – I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she yelled. Nate and Miley looked at her, not understanding her outburst. "I just can't do this anymore!" she said before running off in tears.

"Alex!" Miley and Nate called out, standing up at the same time. "Alex!" Nate repeated, running after her. He pushed away the bystanders, trying to catch up to her. Miley froze as she watched Nate run full speed ahead of her. She shook her head, shaking that shocked feeling inside of her, and quickly jogged, looking for Alex as well.

Nate found Alex in time before she was about to open the door to exit the school. "Alex!" Nate said, grabbing her arm. He turned her around to find her eyes streaming with tears. "Oh, Alex." Nate sighed, pulling her into a hug. Alex cried into his chest, embracing him tightly.

"I can't do this anymore, Nate! I can't do this to Miley!" Alex sobbed. Nate shushed her and rubbed her back. "I love you so much but…I can't do this to Miley."

"What are you saying?" Nate asked. Alex looked up at him.

"I don't know." Alex said truthfully. Nate cupped her face and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "All I do know though is…that I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life, Nate Gray." Alex whispered.

"And I love you too." Nate whispered back. He leaned in and kissed her deeply. Alex was stunned. She slowly wrapped her arms around Nate's neck and pulled him closer. The two pulled away, panting slightly. "I will always love you." Nate said, rubbing her shoulders.

They heard a gasp. Nate and Alex turned to see Miley, also in tears by now. Nate and Alex pulled away from each other, taking a step back. They stared at Miley as she cried there, in front of them, looking so hurt and so betrayed. Hurt by her boyfriend and betrayed by her best friend. Nothing else was worse than that. "I can't believe you two." She said, her voice cracking. "I…I don't know what to say…but…why?" Nate and Alex didn't answer her. The three just stared at each other, silence passing by in between them. "I said why did you do this to me?!" Miley screamed.

"Miles," Nate said in a soft voice, trying to calm her down before she gets hysterical.

"Don't 'Miles' me! You cheated on me with my best friend! I can't believe you, Nate!" Miley yelled. She wanted to slap him, curse at him, and tell her father and brother to beat the living crap out of him. But she stopped herself once she saw Alex in more tears than she was before. "And for you," Miley said, shaking her head. "I should have seen this coming. You even hinted me about it, but I still acted like nothing was wrong. I still acted like there was nothing between you two. Wow, was I wrong."

"Miley…I…I'm sorry." Alex chocked out. Miley scoffed and shook her head. Alex hung her head down, feeling like she just got slapped right in the face.

"You hurt me so much, Nate." Miley said. "Both of you did. Sorry won't cut it."

Miley understood everything now. Why Nate and Alex were suddenly being nicer to each other. Why she felt like she needed to keep her guard up 24/7. Why she had the feeling like Alex was mad at her. Why she had the feeling that Nate was cheating on her. Why she had that _annoying_ feeling like Nate and Alex were hiding something from her...It was all making sense to her now. Miley knew that they would end up together if they didn't hate each other.

She was right.

**A/N: And there you have it, folks! Miley finally found out! Well this story is coming to an end! Yes, I know, it's really short. But when I was writing this, I didn't expect many chapters for this story. Oh, and sorry that this one was short!**


	7. Chapter 7

_"And the seventh thing I hate the most that you do, you make me love you"  
_The 7 Things by Miley Cyrus

"Guys…" Nate whispered as he watched Miley and Alex tear up. "Stop crying please." He begged. He couldn't stand the sight of the two girls he loves in uncontrollable tears. It's making his heart ache, and he felt like his conscience is killing him. Nate felt his eyes beginning to water as well. He looked up at the ceiling to keep the tears back in. He sighed and shaky breath and shut his eyelids tightly. "I can't stand seeing you two like this." He whispered softly.

"I can't believe you have enough backbone to say that." Miley asked dangerously, her hands curling into fists. "What, do you feel _guilty, _Nate?" she demanded. She wiped her tears away and attempted to stop crying, but her tears just continued to fall down from her eyes. Nate didn't dare open his eyes while Alex sniffled. Miley glared at the floor, not muttering a single word again. The three stood in the middle of that hallway, not daring to open their mouths for a while.

"I love you." He said, looking back and forth to Alex and Miley. "And I'm sorry that I can't love just one of you." Alex sighed while Miley scoffed.

"Nate, you can't just love two people. That's practically _impossible_. You can only love one person." Miley stated. She folded her arms across her chest and glanced at 'boyfriend' and her 'best friend'. The two didn't respond again. Miley let out a sigh of frustration. "Well choose." She told Nate. Nate gave Miley a strange look.

"What do you mean 'choose'?" he asked.

"Are you oblivious or just dense?! I said to choose between me and her!" Miley yelled, stomping her foot.

"Miles, I don't think-" Alex started.

"_Shut up!_ I don't want to hear from backstabbing ex-best best friends!" Miley screamed at her. Alex backed away; she started tearing up even more as she felt like her insides just got crushed.

"Look at me, and tell me that you love me and only me." Miley told Nate. Nate's watery eyes widened, and his breath got stuck in his throat. Alex's eyes shot up and she looked at the two, giving them a shock and devastated look.

"W-what?" Nate stuttered.

"You heard me." Miley responded. Nate didn't answer back. He just stood there, frozen with his mouth gaping open. "I want you to tell me that you love me and only me! I want to believe that what you and Alex had was just some little fling and that it meant nothing! I want to know that I'm the only girl in this whole damn world that's right for you!" Miley yelled out, completely pouring out her soul to Nate. Her tears fell harder this time and her breathing rate quickened. "Now is that so wrong?" she asked weakly.

Nate frowned and embraced Miley in a tight hug. He cooed her as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, crying in his chest. "You're right Miley. I love you, I love you so much." Nate said into her ear softly. Miley hugged him even tighter, not releasing herself from him. Nate sighed and buried his face into her hair, trying to comfort her as best as possible.

Alex looked down, feeling depressed, down, low, like _freaking shit_. It was like her heart stop, her mind froze, like she was going to experience something worse than Hell. She quickly brushed passed Nate and Miley and ran out of the school's campus and didn't stop running until she reached her house. She ignored her parents' worried questions as she ran by them through their sandwich restaurant and just continued to head towards her room. Alex opened her door and slammed it shut, locking it tightly. She jumped on her bed and hid under the covers, crying her eyes out until the very last tear.

"Alex, Alex, sweetie, are you okay?" her mother, Theresa asked from behind the door as she knocked repeatedly. "Honey, open the door." She asked, knocking more gently this time. Alex didn't budge. She grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it tightly, nuzzling her face into it. She screamed into it and pounded her fists against it. "Alex, I'm really worried now. Please, sweetie, open the door." Theresa begged. Alex still didn't bother. She just continued to cry as much as her body would allow herself to.

It was like the biggest disaster happened, and now the world was ending. The skies will forever be gray with no sunshine peeking through. The birds' chirps will be unheard, and music will be gone. People walking down the streets will never find happiness, making those simple smiles rare. The feeling of being love will be vanished, and nothing will be the same. Alex's whole world was falling apart, and she knows that it's impossible to fix.

Alex took deep breaths and finally pulled her blanket off of her. She continued to breathe as she stared up at the ceiling and clutched tightly to the pillow. "Mom, I'm fine." She croaked, growing annoyed by Theresa's constant knocking. Alex rubbed her tired eyes and wiped her last tears away. She didn't want to cry anymore. Alex sighed and hopped over stuff and opened the door. "I'm okay." She muttered to her mother, not looking directly at her face. Theresa frowned and pulled her daughter into a hug.

"Do you want to talk about it, honey?" she offered, rubbing Alex's back. Alex shook her head no and closed her eyes, trying not to tear up again.

"I just want to…stay home. I don't want to go back to school today." Alex whispered shakily. Theresa nodded her head, understanding.

OMJ

Alex didn't go out of her room the whole day. She just kept herself locked up, bundled around with a bunch of her blankets, and sat emotionlessly in the corner of her messy room. She leaned her head against the wall as she stared off into space, trying not to think, trying not to cry. She wanted to bang her head against the wall just to feel a different kind of pain because the one she was feeling now was killing her. The way she saw Nate hugging Miley, telling her that he _didn't_ love Alex…Alex swore to God that she rather get ran over by a truck.

But she wanted that memory erased. She wanted all of her memories of Nate and Miley to be gone, out of her head. Alex hugged her legs and rested her chin on her knees. She stared at the mess in front of her, blinking absentmindedly at them. She began to glare at the clutter, feeling angst rise up inside of her. Devastation was replaced by rage, and Alex was fired up. She stood up, feeling like she was going to go ballistic soon. She grabbed all of her junk off of her desk and threw them on the ground, breathing harshly. "_I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I freaking hate you!_" she screamed, kicking everything in her path.

The door slowly opened and Justin stepped in, frowning to see his sister has gone crazy. Alex ignored her older brother and continued to destroy everything that was in her way. "_I hate you so much!_" She went on, stomping on her belongings. Justin walked up to her and grabbed Alex's arms, so she could stop causing more destruction to her room. "Let go of me!" she demanded, squirming around, trying to get out.

"Alex, you need to stop doing this. You're going to destroy your room more than it already is!" Justin said, forcing her down on her bed. Alex continued to squirm, attempting to reach out of her older brother's grasp.

"I don't care! Just let go of me!" she screamed, pushing Justin away. Justin frowned and gave his sister a look.

"Miley found out, didn't she?" he asked, his voice monotone but his eyes caring. Alex's lip trembled and her eyes began to water. She stopped moving and lied helplessly on the bed. "Alex," Justin sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a one-armed hug. "I told you that you shouldn't have been doing that. You know that cheating just leads to bad outcomes, especially if it concerns your best friend."

"_Ex-_best friend." Alex clarified, wiping the tears that were about to fall away. "And I don't care. I just want to kill the living shit out of Nate." She said hoarsely, folding her arms angrily. "I _hate_ him." She muttered, slightly kicking a ball of her clothes that were sitting on the floor. "I always did and always will."

"If you hate him that much, then I suggest that you shouldn't take it out on your furniture. Mom and dad will definitely skin you alive if they see the bigger mess you made in here. Release your anger in a different way. Paint a bizarre angry picture or something." He said caringly, hugging her tighter. Alex smiled a little and rested her head on his shoulder. Justin smiled down at her and stood up. "Okay, I gotta go before we actually get a moment. Just try not to kill the rest of your room." He said before walking out of Alex's room.

Alex sighed and laid her back on the bed. She blinked at her surroundings and bit her lip, studying the disaster she created in her room. Her eyes averted to her backpack that her brothers dropped off when school ended that included all of her homework. Alex stood up and picked up her language arts notebook. She skimmed through the empty pages, smiling a little at the doodles she drew when she was bored during the middle of the class. She then turned to the last page that had her current assignment on it.

_Make poem with Miley due tomorrow._

Alex cringed at the word Miley. She frowned and threw her book on her bed. She stared angrily at it, walking slowly back towards it. _Might as well do it now so I wouldn't have to completely fail English_. She thought. Alex grabbed a pen and tapped it lightly on her notebook, trying to find something to write about. She then remembered what Justin said to her._ Release your anger in a different way._

Alex knew exactly what she was going to write about.

OMJ

Alex entered her school the next day with gossip-filled whispers traveling around her. She looked at everyone curiously, wondering why the heck they were pointing at her and muttering quietly to one another. "I never thought that she would actually try to steal Nate from Miley. I thought that she hated Nate and that she and Miley were best friends." She heard one girl say. Alex felt her knees wobbling as that sentence ran through her ears. _Well, too late, I already lost._ She thought angrily before walking swiftly towards her locker.

Alex slammed her locker shut and made her way towards her classes with her head held high. The gossip about her couldn't touch her. She couldn't get hurt by that. They were just words that came out of low-minded people's mouths. Alex didn't want something as small as a stupid (but true) rumor bringing her down. She made a turn towards her homeroom to see Miley and Nate kissing each other near the lockers. Alex gasped and turned on her heel. She shut her eyes and shook her head before taking another way down to her class. Rumors couldn't break her armor, but seeing Miley and Nate kiss could.

As the day passed by, Alex ignored Miley and Nate as much as possible. She didn't even have enough courage to merely look at them. Every time she caught a glimpse at one of them, she either felt wrath or sadness like none other before. She couldn't stand them so much that she had to sit next to Justin and his band of geeks and losers during lunch. She found herself acting different. Her uplifting and bright attitude was turning into a dark and gloomy one. Alex didn't want to lose herself. She already lost the ones she loved the most anyways…

Language arts period came. Alex shuffled in her seat nervously, not making eye-contact with anyone in the room. "Well your assignments were due today! I hope that you all actually did them and completed them." The teacher said, looking accusingly at her students. "Anyways, who would like to start us off?" Of course, no one raised their hands. Their eyes wandered around the room innocently, acting as if they didn't hear a single word the teacher just said. "Come on, anyone?" the teacher sighed.

"I'll go." Alex squeaked. She didn't know exactly why she even offered to go first. She _never_ went first in her life. Everyone was as surprised as she was. Heck even her teacher almost fainted of shock.

"Well, Miss Russo, that's really nice to see you participating! Who was your partner?" she asked, smiling at Alex. Alex didn't reply. She just stood up from her desk and walked up to the front of the room.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to read this by myself." She whispered.

"Oh, well, alright then."

Alex took a deep breath and looked around her classroom. Everyone's confused eyes looked at her except for two pairs. Miley looked down at her notebook, twirling her pen in the air as she pretended like Alex didn't exist. Nate on the other hand, looked at the door, yearning to make a run for it. Alex looked at her notebook and closed her eyes.

"The seven things I hate about you…" she began. Miley glanced up at Alex before returning her eyes back on her notebook while Nate finally brought his full attention to Alex. He frowned at her unhappy face before looking back at the door. "You're vain, your games, you're insecure." Alex continued. She gulped, feeling tears in the back of her eyes. "You love me, but you also love her." She said, her voice cracking. Miley and Nate's eyes shot up back at her. They stared at her intently, not daring to move their eyes.

"You make me laugh, you make me cry, I don't which side to buy. You put on this act that you're such a jerk. When you act like that don't you know it hurts? I wanna be with the one I know." Alex voice cracked. Tears began to fall down her eyes and she didn't know if she could continue on. "And the seventh thing I hate the most that you do," she took a pause and let out a small sob. "You make me love you." Alex instantly broke down. She dropped her notebook on the floor and made a run for it towards the empty cafeteria.

Alex huddled in front of one of the lunch tables, leaning her head on the chairs. She told herself repeatedly not to cry, but she just couldn't listen to herself. Her tears fell down slowly from her eyes again no matter how much she didn't want them to. Alex ran her fingers through her hair and wiped her tears away, trying to stop the crying. Suddenly, the cafeteria doors opened. Alex jumped up and turned to see who's at the door. She frowned to see that it was Nate, looking as sorry as ever. Alex turned back around and glared at her shoes.

"Alex – I – you – Miley – ugh." Nate sighed, scratching the back of his neck. Alex rolled her eyes but still didn't look at Nate. She kept her eyes fixed firmly on her shoes, not intending to look up. Nate sighed and walked up to her. He bent down in front of her and placed a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry." He whispered. He tried to tilt Alex's face so that her eyes met his, but Alex turned her head the other way before he got the chance to touch her. "Alex, please, you know that I'm sorry."

"Oh, yeah, I know that you're sorry. At least you're brave enough to say _that_. You know, if I knew that you would have just lied to Miley, tell her that I mean nothing to you, that what we had together was absolutely nothing, then I wouldn't even bother giving you the time of day. You _know_ that you love me and that I love you, but I also know that you love Miley. I can't believe that you ran and hid under her skirt like a little boy when she threatened you to choose between us, Nate." Alex said, pushing him away. "I can't believe you chose her over me." She muttered.

"Alex-"

"And I thought that I finally found my Prince Charming." Alex scoffed. She shook her head. "I was right though. Prince Charming doesn't exist in my fairytale. He's just a figment of my imagination that will never happen. I guess I'm cursed or something like that. I'll probably never get married and never find love ever again."

"Alex, don't say that-"

"You know, you were the only guy I ever truly loved. I gave you my whole entire heart, my trust, my loyalty, my soul, and now I'm sitting here, feeling like crap in the middle of a cafeteria because you chose Miley over me. Nate, in the past you've wasted my time, effort, and energy, but wasting my love is the worst thing you could do to me." Alex interrupted again. Nate felt something worse than guilt. It was like knives were repeatedly stabbing him in the heart and they wouldn't stop. Alex looked at him and sighed. "Well you have nothing else to say. I'm leaving." She muttered, standing up.

"No, wait!" Nate said, grabbing Alex's arm before she could take a step. Alex opened her mouth to protest, but Nate's lips were already on hers before she could even think of a comeback. Nate forced his tongue inside of Alex's mouth, ignoring the fact that she's smacking his chest. Alex finally had enough strength to push Nate away and slapped him hard across the face. Nate looked down and touched his cheek. "I – I'm sorry. I guess I deserved that" He said, feeling ashamed of himself.

Alex panted slightly and glared at Nate. "Yeah, you did deserve that." She mumbled angrily. "But I don't think you deserve this." Alex grabbed his hand and pulled him in so that their lips met again. Nate forgot the hot pain on his face as Alex's soft lips were on his once more. He cupped her face and kissed her gently while Alex wrapped her arms around his neck. Alex slowly pulled away and glared at Nate. "I hate you for making me love you." She said, jamming her index finger against his chest. Nate smiled amusedly at Alex and hugged her tightly. Alex sighed and hugged Nate back, enjoying the warmth that he gave her.

Finally, she felt like she was at ease again. She felt like her world stopped crumbling apart for a split second. The light soared through the skies bringing a small amount of happiness as it entered her world. Nate was like that light. His arms around her were like her protection to her cracked armor, to her destroyed world. He was her hope, but he was also her main point of her undying depression at the same time.

OMJ

Nate walked in through his front door wordlessly. He shuffled his feet against the floor as he trudged upstairs into his room. He dropped his backpack near his door and plopped on his bed. He muffled curses into his pillow, complaining how unfair his life was. Shane and Jason walked into his room with large smiles on their faces. They jumped on Nate's bed, trying to get him to join them. "Nate! Nate! Dude, we have the best news ever!" Jason yelled excitedly. Nate groaned and threw a pillow at him.

"Get out of my room." He ordered, pointing at the door. Shane grabbed another pillow and smacked Nate in the head. "Dude, what the hell?!" Nate said, obviously pissed. Shane and Jason stopped jumping and stared down at their little brother.

"Nate has girl problems." Jason sighed, plopping down besides him. Shane frowned and did the same.

"That means we can't tell Nate that Hollywood Records wants us to do a demo for them this weekend." Shane said. Nate's head shot up.

"What?!" he yelled, smiling wide as ever. Shane and Jason smiled at him and nodded their heads. "No way! You guys are serious?!"

"Dude, would we seriously kid about this?" Jason asked.

"Oh, my god, we're going to make a demo for Hollywood Records!"

"Yeah, and if they like it they're going to sign us in, and we're going to be rockstars!" Shane yelled, pumping his fist into the air. The three did the same and yelled, jumping around Nate's room like they just announced world peace or the end of global warming.

"Yeah, then we'll move to California and finally live our dreams!" Jason yelled. Nate stopped and looked at his brothers.

"Wait, what?" he asked.

**A/N: And there you go! Chapter seven is finally up! Also meaning that the end is coming near! Duh-duh-duhhn!! Sorry I had to leave you guys off on a cliffie! It was tempting! lol. I would of posted it on my birthday on Thursday but my parents had other ideas for me. lol. Parents. What could you do? Anyways, I worked superduper hard on this! I hope you guys enjoy this!**


	8. Chapter 8

"_Friends hang on through the ups and downs 'cause they've got someone to believe in."_  
True Friend by Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana

"Yeah, we'll move to California so we could work for the record label. Duh." Jason said excitedly like a little boy who just had an overdose of sugar. Nate looked at his brothers back and forth, speechless. He didn't know what he wanted to say after that. At first, he wanted to yell, complain like a whiny child that he didn't want to move. But Nate decided against that to save himself from humiliation from his brothers. Instead, he looked down at his shoes and kept his mouth shut.

"Whoa, what happened? First, you were just fine and then it's like you died inside or something." Shane said, waving his hand in front of Nate's face. He then stopped and sighed, realizing the problem. "Oh, I think I know why Nate's like this." He announced, folding his arms across his chest. "You just couldn't choose between them." He said, sighing. Jason frowned, putting on a serious face.

"You mean between Miley and Alex? You're _still_ cheating on them?" he asked, truly disappointed in his younger brother. Nate shrugged weakly; still not brave enough to look up at his older brothers. "Nate, you really shouldn't cheat on two girls. I thought you were smart enough to keep _one_ girlfriend! It's wrong, mean, and unfair!" Jason said, looking dejectedly at Nate.

Nate shuffled his foot against the floor, burying his hands inside of the pockets of his jeans. He murmured incoherent things as his eyes continued to stay glued to the floor. Shane and Jason looked at each other and frowned before placing their attention back on their troubled younger brother. "Nate, you're just going to end up hurting them. Save them the time and just finish this." Shane said, sounding so tired and glum. As expected, Nate still didn't speak up, leaving Shane to his final words. "You know, you're going to have to break up with them when you leave for California."

"I can do lost distance relationships!" Nate burst out, finally talking for what seemed like a century. Shane raised an eyebrow while Jason scoffed.

"You can't keep one girlfriend. What makes you think that you can handle a long distance relationship?" Jason asked. Nate scratched his head furiously, feeling absolutely frustrated.

"I _can_ keep a long distance relationship." He muttered before childishly looking away with his arms folded across his chest again.

"Nate, you have to pick one of them." Shane insisted, placing a hand on his arm.

"Why?" Nate whined.

"I think you know why."

Nate looked at Shane and Jason, finally meeting their eyes with his. Shane and Jason felt a pang of sorry as they stared into Nate's brown eyes. That shimmer in them faded away and was replaced by an outline of guilt and frustration. The usual intense yet beautiful color of his eyes looked dull and lifeless. His eyes looked like they were screaming defeat, rock bottom, hopelessness. And they were the perfect example to what Nate really was feeling right now.

"So…when's the flight?" Nate whispered, frowning.

OMJ

"Good morning, future artists of America! I am proudly hear to announce that the scouts from the Fine Arts Academy in New York are gladly here to see if any of you are good enough to join their summer program and will receive a full scholarship for their classes next school year! Five students from each grade were chosen to represent our school and their selves with their art, but only three will get the chance to join the summer program and the scholarship. Can those twenty students please go to the gym after homeroom to present their artworks? Thank you." The intercom announced.

Alex smiled brightly as she watched the clock ticked by. She bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling too widely as she barely could contain herself in her seat. She had the biggest urge to run wildly around the campus and yell out ear piercing screams of joy. Alex began to tap loudly against her wooden desk and shake her leg. This excitement was just too much for her own good.

Today was _her_ time to shine. She was having a once in a lifetime opportunity getting thrown at her, her life's long dream of becoming an artist is just minutes away to becoming fulfilled, and as long as she is the infamous Alex Russo, she was going to let no one get in her way of ruining her day. Even after the fearful death glares, hurtful gossip, and harsh insults that had been centering on her for the past moments, Alex knew that she was capable of ignoring that. Today was her only day to hold her head up high and show everybody that she can't be torn apart.

Alex had to admit that from being the most envied yet popular girl at school to the most hated was a huge step back for her. She was used to the smack talk but just not the ones about her. She hated the burning looks, the ego crushing words, and the plain heartlessness that everyone was showing her now. Alex cared – she cared _a lot_. But was she going to show all of those losers that she did?

_Hell no._

"She doesn't even draw that good. I bet she paid the school to choose her to go. God, I bet her stupid little picture she brought today is some kind of retard paint splatter or a piece of crap on paper." Alex heard someone whisper. She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that she needed to be calm and collected.

_This is my day. This is my time. This is my spotlight._ Alex thought, trying to build up her self-esteem. _He's my Nate…wait!_ Alex shook her head. She also promised herself today that she wasn't going to think about Nate. Today was focusing on her art, not her on-and-off boyfriend. _This is my chance. This is my opportunity. This is my dream. He's my Nate – god, Alex!_ She groaned silently and rested her head against the desk. _No Nate. No Nate. No Nate. I love Nate…ah!_

Alex decided to stop thinking. Anyways, thinking never worked out well for her in the past. As her mind began to drone out of all of its thoughts, Alex looked aimlessly around the room, ignoring all of the sounds around her. She turned to her side to see Miley fidgeting with her long hair, pretending to listen to the teacher as well. Alex stared at her former best friend, feeling like multiple needles were getting injected into the pit of her stomach right now.

Miley caught Alex's glance. The two girls immediately looked down at their desks shyly. Alex kept her eyes plastered on her hands, afraid of Miley's stare. She didn't think that a look could actually make her want to cry and crawl into a hole. But Miley's stare made Alex feel exactly that. Miley on the other hand, looked back at Alex. She pursed her lips, trying not to frown. She didn't want to give Alex the impression that she was sad as well. That she was also suffering also.

Alex and Miley wondered: what happened to them?

Even though the answer was pretty obvious. _Nate_.

But Alex Russo and Miley Stewart were the kind of best friends that were known to be with each other until the ends of the Earth - literally. If one would go, the other would have to go along too. It was like it was a _rule_ for them to not be separated. Side-by-side, arm-in-arm, walking in a certain pattern. They were supposed to stick to each other through everything. Through turmoil and mayhem, tears and screams, bad and worse, they were supposed to be right besides each other.

In the past, they were so strong and so sure that nothing could separate them. No matter how many silly or serious disagreements they had, how many family problems or midlife crises they would face, or how many times things just simply went wrong, _nothing could separate them_. It was like the golden statement that Alex Russo and Miley Stewart are not allowed to not be friends.

_Flashback_

"Oh, Alex, I'm sorry! You know that I had to tell on you! The teacher was going to make us sit in for recess if anybody didn't confess!" seven-year-old Miley wailed, trying to keep up with Alex's fast pace. Alex held her nose high in the air with her arms folded neatly across her chest. She quickly walked, trying to move away from Miley. "Alex, don't give me the silent treatment! You know that it drives me insane when you don't talk!" Miley complained, still trying to keep up with Alex.

"I'm not talking to you since you went against best friend code and told on me. Best friends don't do that." Alex huffed, childishly looking the opposite direction Miley was in. Miley pouted, widening her big blue eyes in front of Alex. Alex tried not to give up. She fully turned around and held her nose in the air again. Miley walked over in front of Alex and gave her the puppy dog eyes again.

"But I told the teachers that I'll sit in with you." Miley tried, giving Alex the most innocent look a seven year old could possibly make.

Alex sighed and smiled. "Really?" Alex asked. Miley nodded her head. Alex grinned. "Aw, Miley, now _that's_ what best friends do! I forgive you!"

"Yay!" Miley cheered, throwing her arms around Alex's small body and engulfing her in a big hug. Alex laughed and hugged her back. "So we're still best friends?"

"Forever and ever."

_End of Flashback_

They were supposed to be best friends forever and ever.

Miley breathed in a shaky breath and looked out the window. She looked at her old middle school across the road, watching as the wind gently pushed the swings in the playground. Miley smiled in what seemed like forever. She leaned back against her seat and grinned at the swings, just remembering how many things happened in that simple playground.

She didn't know if she hated Alex. She definitely didn't like her nor had enough love in her heart to forgive her right now, but she knew that she didn't hate Alex. They've been through too much, shared too many secrets, been together for so long for her to hate. Miley's smile twisted and her face made the expression of confusion. She didn't understand what she felt with Alex. It was like a dislike of some sort, not a hate but not a love.

Miley sighed as she continued to stare at her old middle school. It was like all the moments and memories with Alex had no meaning anymore. The many times Alex cheered Miley up, stuck up for her against bullies, took her place in the worst situations, seemed like it was unimportant now. Miley cringed, knowing how unfair that was. Alex was the only person who could save Miley when she was down. How could she be that cruel and forget all the good things Alex has done for her? But then again, Alex had her share of unfairness as well.

_She freaking stole her boyfriend._

The pros listed in Miley's head again. They had been through the pimples, the periods, the crushes, the personal issues, the heartbreaks, and the heartaches, all together. So many things, so many remembrances were shared with each other. Miley – and Alex – knew that they couldn't just simply throw that away.

Miley ran her fingers through her hair, not knowing what to do, what to say, or what to feel.

_Flashback_

"So here we are." Miley whispered nervously as she and Alex stepped into the new building. They watched as what seemed like giants, dodged them, trying to get to their classes or lockers. They looked around at the new environment, already scared half-to-death. "Middle school." Miley said. Alex bit her lip, hating the fact that she seemed like a stupid bystander in the middle of the hallway, looking clueless. She stepped in front of Miley and gave her a cheery smile.

"Miles, this is _just_ middle school. What's the worst that could happen? Getting pimples? Come on, we can survive something as simple as middle school. The only thing different is that we get lockers and we have transitioning classes and everything is so much bigger…" but the more Alex thought about it, fear overcame her mind like Miley's. Well, she definitely wasn't the overconfident eleven year old she was in fifth grade.

Miley grabbed Alex's hand. They intertwined their fingers and closed their eyes, taking a slow and deep breath. "We can do this. We're going to do this. We're going to get through this." Miley said quietly, trying her best not to hyperventilate in the situation. She could feel Alex's grip tighten around her. She could tell that Alex was just timid as she was. "We can do this, Alex." Miley repeated, trying to sound more confident than she normally is.

"Yeah, we can do this." Alex agreed. Then the two girls walked up the stairs and took a step into the first homeroom classroom.

And they did experience all of it together.

_End of Flashback_

The bell rang, interrupting everyone's thoughts. Alex felt her skin tingling in excitement, knowing that it was time to show her artwork to the scouts. She jumped out of her seat – and for once in her life – she was the first one out the door. Alex pushed through everyone in the hallway as she rushed to the gym. The blood pumping quickly in her veins was the only thing keeping her lively right now. Her heart thumping overtime was driving her mad, but she knew that it was the only thing that could get her full-on Alex Russo confidence going.

Alex opened the large gym doors to see that she was the only one in there. She smiled and walked over to her presentation. She pulled the sheet off of it, wanting to make sure that it was as perfect as she made it that day. To her complete horror, it was completely demolished. Alex's mouth dropped open as she stared at the destruction in front of her that used to be her art. Alex felt her lip trembling and her eyes watering.

Why would somebody do this to her?

She stared at the work, noticing that a bunch of people spray-painted harmful words around it. _Whore. Slut. Ho. Man stealer. Backstabber. Traitor. Home wrecker. Bitch. _She felt like she was about to break down again. People would assume that it was Miley who did this to her, but Alex knew better. Miley – not matter how mad she is – wouldn't do something this low. Alex took a deep breath and threw the sheet over her destroyed artwork, promising herself not to let a single drop of water fall out of her eyes. She was not going to let anyone rain on her parade today.

She sunk down against the wall and groaned miserably. She had nothing to present, meaning an automatic no from the scouts. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say? Then a small smile appeared on her lips. With all her willpower, Alex got up and searched through her backpack, remembering that she brought her sketchbook to school today. She pulled it out at the same time as the other students and the scouts filed into the gym. She quickly glanced back at her old presentation and kicked it out of the way, pressing her sketchbook closely to her chest.

"Hello, dear students. I am Miss Auburn, high master at the Fine Arts Academy. Our other instructors and I are glad to be here at your school to see the works of the unknown and young artists of the new generation. So let's begin!" Miss Auburn said. The scouts separated and began to look around the gym, asking the artist many questions about his or her masterpiece.

Miley and Nate entered the gym quietly from opposite doors. Even if Miley and Alex weren't best friends anymore, Miley was still curious about Alex's art. She's never seen Alex's works in her entire life. For Nate, he just wanted to supports Alex. He knew that this was really important to her. Also, this might be his chance to tell her the truth. Both didn't see each other, but they clearly saw Alex. Miley rushed towards the crowd, blending in with the students and scouts while Nate hid behind the bleachers.

Miss Auburn walked directly over to Alex. She raised an eyebrow and looked behind her, seeing nothing but a large rag over a pile of clutter. "And you are?" she asked. Alex gulped.

"Alex Russo." She squeaked, giving her a weak smile.

"Ah, Alex Russo. You have been spoken highly from your teachers about your artwork. But, umm, where is it?" Miss Auburn asked. Alex bit her lip. She opened her sketchbook to a random page and shoved it in Miss Auburn's hands.

"Here, it's not that good but-"

"Why, this is truly beautiful, Alex." Miss Auburn said, taking off her glasses to get a closer look of the picture. She softened out the creases in the page and smiled genuinely at Alex. "Can I ask why you made this picture?" Alex peered over the page, trying to find out which drawing she opened up to. She frowned once she saw that she opened up to the picture with her and Miley on it, the one Nate loved the most.

Miley's eyes widened as she caught a glance of the drawing. It was her and Alex. Lifelike. She gasped but quickly turned around, trying to remain quiet. She looked inconspicuously behind her shoulder, trying to hear what Miss Auburn and Alex were talking about.

"Well…normally all of my drawings were made out of boredom, but this one is special. You see, that other girl in the picture is – was – my best friend. All the colors, purple, black, pink, blue, green, they all mean something. All the mixture of colors in the back round resembles what we've been through and all of the emotions we had to face with each other. That's why we're on the center of the picture. The fact that we're still smiling, still hugging, looking like we're laughing, means that no matter what we've been through and experienced in the past, we're still the best of friends, and nothing could tear us apart."

_Flashback_

"So what's for my sixteenth birthday?" Miley giggled as she and Alex walked out of the restaurant that hosted her fifteenth birthday. Alex rolled her eyes and laughed, linking her arms in between Miley's.

"That's a whole entire year away, Miles. Can't you wait? I already got you a gift card to, like, every store in the mall. Plus, since I love you, _I_ was the one who had to pay for every single one of those gift cards!" Alex said, playfully nudging Miley in the ribs. Miley laughed and shook her head.

"Okay, okay, I'll wait. But I know what you can give me next year, and you don't even have to spend money on it!" Miley said. Alex's face brightened up.

"Oh! A free gift! I like it!" she responded, smirking. Miley laughed again.

"Well next year, I want to see a piece of your art." Alex frowned and rolled her eyes again. "Oh, c'mon, Alex! It's just one picture of yours I want to see! It's not fair that I'm your best friend in the world, and I'm not even allowed to see your art! Talk about best friends."

"Ugh, _fine_, I'll let you see my work. But only next year on your sixteenth birthday. I need to make something special just for you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

_End of Flashback_

What Miley didn't know was that her promise she made with Alex half a year ago was right there before her eyes.

Miss Auburn looked at Alex, giving her a warm smile. She handed her back the sketchpad and quickly scribbled things on her clipboard before walking away. Alex sighed, not knowing if that was a good smile or a bad smile. She placed the sketchpad back into her backpack and turned around. Of course, she bumped into someone. Alex looked up to find Miley, looking like she wanted to escape badly.

"Miley? What are you doing here?" Alex asked, absolutely bewildered. Miley looked around the room, trying to act cool and collected, but in the inside she was freaking out.

"Uh, what? Am I not allowed to be in here? It's a free country." She snapped back. Alex nodded her head, knowing that she shouldn't bother being nice to Miley. It wasn't worth it if she was only going to be rude back. Alex brushed passed Miley, heading towards the gym doors. Miley bit her lip and groaned. "Alex, wait." She said, jogging up to her. Alex froze, surprised. She turned to face Miley, giving her a confused look. "Um…I liked your drawing." Miley said, giving her a small smile. Alex smiled back.

"Yeah…it was supposed to be your sixteenth birthday present." Alex confessed, feeling her cheeks redden. Miley's eyes lit up, but she tried to keep that normal look on her face. Miley nodded her head, and Alex did the same.

"What was under the blanket?" Miley asked, pointing at Alex's old work.

"Oh…it was originally my first masterpiece, but somebody ruined it, so I ended up using our – my – picture." Alex said. Miley looked at the blanket, wondering what was under it. "Well I gotta go. I'll, uh, see you around, Miley." Alex said, giving her a small smile. Miley smiled weakly back as she watched Alex exit the gym.

Curiosity struck Miley again, and she walked up to the clutter and pulled the cloth off. She gasped at what she saw. She couldn't believe that someone would actually do this to Alex. But underneath all of those spray painted words and sharpie scribbles, she looked at the wonderful masterpiece Alex created. She heard laughing behind her. Miley turned around to see some of her friends from the cheerleading squad, giggling evilly. "That bitch got what she deserved for what she did to you, Miley." One of them said while receiving a bunch of high fives from the others.

Miley felt like her blood was boiling up inside of her. She threw the blanket back over Alex's old artwork. She frowned at her friends, giving them a look that could kill. "You're kidding me, right? Do you have any idea how much effort Alex put into this? I can't believe that you have enough guts to do that to her! She will definitely kill you guys if she finds out that you were the ones that did this to her." Miley said angrily.

"Hey, we did this for you. Russo doesn't deserve to go to that stupid art school."

"First, she _does_ deserve to go to that school. Second, hasn't anyone told you that revenge is only for the low-minded?" with that, Miley exited the gym, smiling victoriously to herself as she heard the cheerleaders gasp. She pushed open the gym doors and jumped to find Alex, smiling at her.

"You really think so?" she asked. Miley sighed and gave Alex a half smile.

"I know so." She said. Alex threw her arms around Miley, hugging her tightly.

"I am s-so s-sorry!" she wailed, practically repeating what she said earlier on. Miley frowned, but hugged Alex back. "And I could understand that if you never want to see me again, if you never want anything to do with me, if you even hate me, but please just know that if it wasn't for you…then I would have been broken years ago."

"Hate you? Why would I hate you?" Miley asked.

"Don't you hate me?"

"Of course not. I don't like you…but I loved you too much for me to hate you."

Nate walked out of the gym and froze to see Alex and Miley hugging. A huge smile leaped onto his face as he neared the two girls. But he knew that he shouldn't be smiling. He was about to tell them the worst news ever. Nate felt his stomach stirring up and his knees wobbling. He didn't know if he could do this or not. Nate took a deep breath, knowing that he needed to be a man.

He needed to tell them today.

"Hey…" he said, smiling at the two girls. Miley and Alex pulled away and looked at Nate. "Can I talk to…both of you…"

**A/N: And once again you've stumbled across another cliffhanger :) This chapter was sort of different becuase I wanted to focus on Miley and Alex's relationship, hence the song choice of the chapter. Thank you guys for your kind reviews. It makes me smile to read them. You rock! Expect just a couple more chapters left though. **


	9. Chapter 9

_"But the one thing I wish I'd forget. The memory I wanna forget is goodbye."_  
Goodbye by Miley Cyrus

Alex and Miley could sense the timidity in Nate's tone. They glanced at each other before looking directly back at Nate. The two girls stood there, nervous and perplexed, not knowing what to say or how to react. So they stood still in the middle of that empty hallway, letting the awkward silence swirl around them.

Alex wanted to throw her arms around Nate, yearning for the love of her life. Yet at the same time, she wanted to link her arm in between Miley's, standing straight on the ground, and proving that she was downright the greatest best friend known to girl. Though, Miley wanted to scream at Alex as she remembered the atrocity her on-and-off best friend committed then run off with Nate, rubbing in Alex's face that he was all hers. But she knew that Nate wasn't _just_ hers, and she knew that Alex wasn't the worst person alive.

"What's up?" Alex asked, seeing that Miley wouldn't say anything. She acted as if they were just friends. Not enemies, not lovers, but just friends. Alex could barely handle the explosion of butterflies inside of her stomach right now. She tried not to smile dreamily or gaze at him, knowing that her newly restored friendship with Miley could easily get shattered by just doing that.

"Well…" Nate scratched the back of his neck and looked absentmindedly at his shoes. He didn't know how to word this. What could he say? _I'm leaving you for California to pursue my dreams?_ He didn't think so. Nate took a deep gulp and shuffled his foot against the tiles. Miley glanced at Alex again whom was beginning to get really impatient.

"What do you want to tell us, Nate?" Miley asked before Alex would start complaining a storm. Nate looked up sullenly and frowned. "Is it something bad?" Miley and Alex knew that there was a dilemma once they saw Nate mute again. "What happened?" Miley whispered. She was too scared to raise her voice, knowing that it will crack.

"Well…Hollywood Records is asking my brothers and me to make a demo for them. They'll sign us in if they like our stuff." Nate mumbled. Miley and Alex smiled and hugged Nate tightly from each side. They were too happy for him to even realize the unhappy look on Nate's face. "But…there's a problem."

"What? Why would there be a problem? Nate, you're going to be a popstar!" Alex cheered, wrapping her arms around his neck and embracing him lovingly.

"I think Natey prefers the term 'rockstar'. I know Shane does." Miley laughed, hugging Nate's waist. Alex giggled as well.

Two gorgeous girls hugging you adoringly, loving you endlessly was a position any guy would kill to be in. Any guy but Nate.

He slipped out of his girlfriends' arms and took a step back, still frowning. He took both of their hands and squeezed them, wishing that he wouldn't have to let go of them. "But if the record label likes us…I'm going to California." He said, looking back and forth between the two. Miley and Alex still looked puzzled. Nate sighed. He didn't want to say it, but there was no other way to explain it. "Meaning…I'll be in California…_and not come back._"

Those words struck Alex and Miley like a bullet. Their visions were blurring by the incoming tears. They knew that they couldn't leave each other, but that meant that the love of their life had to go instead. Nate looked down. He couldn't handle the devastated expressions on Alex and Miley's faces. He felt their grip tighten on him, not wanting to let go as well.

"Oh…" Alex whispered. She chocked back a sob and looked down, wiping her eyes with her free hand. "Well then…" she added, making this conversation more heartrending by the second. Miley couldn't even speak. It was hard enough that she wasn't the only love of Nate's life, but now he has to go? She just couldn't take that.

"Guys-" Nate started.

"Don't leave me!" Alex wailed. She couldn't hold her tears back any longer. She looked at Miley whom was crying as well. "Don't leave _us_. You said that you loved us! Was that some stupid lie?!" Nate opened his mouth, but Alex cut him off again. "You know, I've been hurt by guys _so many freaking_ times. I've been fooled to be in love. But you, I thought you were a whole entire different story. I backstabbed my own best friend for you. And now you're just going to leave me – us – and think that it's alright?!"

"Alex-"

"Alex is right! You turned our lives upside down! You ruined our friendship to the worst measure, twisted it into a knot, and threw it into the ground like you don't even freaking care! You said that you loved me and only me, Nate. You promised Alex that you were going to love her no matter what. Is all you say complete lies?!"

"Miley-"

"Why couldn't you just choose one?!" Miley and Alex screamed at the same time. Silence poured amongst them again. All they could hear was the heavy huffs coming from Alex and Miley. Nate sighed deeply, his eyes watering up.

"Because I can't." he chocked out. "I never thought that I could love two girls as much as I ever loved you two. I can't live without both of you. I can't breathe unless I know that the two of you, okay. I feel like I'm going to cry when I see you guys crying because I know that it's my entire fault. I'm sorry that I can't pick the two of you because really, I love _both_ of you." By now, Nate was in tears. His voice was husky hoarse, his eyes were depressing again, and Miley and Alex were speechless.

"Sorry for cutting your hair off in kindergarten." Alex mumbled. Nate cracked a smile.

"Sorry for gluing your hair to the wall." He said. He then looked at Miley. "And I'm sorry that I did this to you." He said, his smile wearing off. "To both of you."

"We're pretty sorry too." Miley answered back.

Suddenly, the gym doors opened and Miss Auburn came out. "Oh, Alex, good you're still here! Come inside, we're announcing the five students who'll be accepted to New York's Fine Arts Academy!" she said, smiling gladly at her. Alex sighed and reluctantly followed Miss Auburn back inside with Nate and Miley trailing on behind her.

_I really don't need this. What I need is a long crying fest, a stack of romantic comedies, and chocolate ice cream to eat with Miley. Scratch that. I need Miley as my best friend. I need Nate as my boyfriend. I need Miley to not hate me. I need Nate to not leave me. I need…love. _

Alex wiped her remaining tears with her hands and mixed in with the large crowd that was forming in front of the stage. She stood on Nate's right and Miley stood on his left. They had a gap in between each other, trying not to touch, trying not to feel. Alex glumly stared at her shoes, dragging her foot back and forth on the gym floor. She could honestly care less about who gets accepted or not. She just wanted to find a solution to all of this. A result with everyone winning.

But no result will end like that. Someone has to lose, someone has to win. In the end, they will all be truly broken.

"I've seen many talented artists in this room. So many that we feel so bad about not accepting all of you into my school. Really, I wish that you all can come and show this world how important and beautiful art truly is. But now, we must choose the five students out of you twenty to come to New York with us for the summer and to enroll into our school next fall. Before I announce all of them, I have to say that one stood out from all of you. One showed me that she just wasn't another girl who could draw really well. She just didn't know how to paint. She knew how to _feel_ and _express_ herself and had no worry of showing it." Miss Auburn said.

Whispers filled the gym as the students wondered who this mystery girl could be. Alex sighed and leaned on Nate's shoulder. She wasn't even listening to a single word Miss Auburn said. Her mind was drifting away to its dark room where everything was equivalent to Hell.

"Come on, Alex, lighten up." Nate whispered into her ear. Alex grumbled and walked over to Miley. She leaned on her arm instead. Miley rested her head on Alex's and looked down morosely as well. Nate sighed and rubbed his eyes, knowing that this was a whole lot harder than he expected.

"And this girl reminded me what art was all about. It was about how much you loved it. How much you didn't care what the world or critics think, or how much people can degrade you because of your art. All what mattered was that you added love into it. I have to be honest, not many people can do that. All they think is if their painting would get sold or not. But not her. All she cared was if she was included enough love into it. And I'm proud to say that that girl is none other than Alex Russo."

Alex's head quickly shot up. She stared at Miss Auburn, astonished. Her mouth dropped open but was quickly twisted into a smirk once she heard the rest of the student body gasping, demanding a second look at her work. Alex's ego was back, and now was the perfect time to show it. Alex walked up the stage and received the certificate.

Nate smiled and clapped his hands which were soon followed by a long round of applause. "Isn't this great?" he asked Miley. Miley nodded her head weakly and looked down. Nate noticed the look on Miley's face and began to frown as well. He wrapped his arm around Miley's shoulders and pulled her closer.

First her boyfriend and now her best friend. Miley didn't know if things could get any worse.

Alex's heart sank as she looked out in the crowd. Even if many students surrounded her sight, all she could see were Miley and Nate. Alex felt like she was going to fall on her feet as she watched Nate comforting Miley. Then it hit her. Alex was leaving too. She was separating herself from her best friend. She was moving farther away from her boyfriend. Alex gulped and looked down at her certificate, wondering if she should accept it or not.

This was her dream she was willing to throw away. But she knew that it was for a good cause.

"What is she doing?" Miley asked as Alex stared down at her certificate with uncertainty. "She should be doing her stuck up, bratty thank you speech by now!" Nate said. He looked at Alex and smiled at her encouragingly. Once Alex caught his look, she shrugged at him. Nate nodded his head and grinned even wider at her. Alex sighed and looked at Miss Auburn.

"I don't think-" she started.

"Go, Alex! Woo!" Nate yelled, trying to cut her off. He elbowed Miley and she did the same thing. The two started to cheer and yell, praising Alex. "You _deserve_ this!" Nate said loudly, emphasizing 'deserve'. Alex sighed and smiled reluctantly.

"Thank you." She said before walking off the stage. No egoistical remarks, any gloating, no Alex-ish ways, but just a small 'thank you'. Alex knew that she had no time to do any of that stuff, or enough happiness to. She walked through the loud murmurs of the students around her while Miss Auburn proceeded to announce the rest of the winners. Everyone believed that Alex won the best prize, but Alex truly knew that she's about to lose the most important one.

She up to Nate and Miley and hugged them. "Thank you." She repeated, closing her eyes. Nate and Miley squeezed her tightly, closing their eyes as well. The three secured their hold on each other, hoping that they didn't have to let go. That all of this was just another nightmare that they've been dreaming during a history, and that they needed to wake up badly this instant.

All they really wanted was to try not to cry.

OMJ

It was inevitable that the three will leave each other by the end of the school year. They will all go their separate ways and practically disappear from each others' lives. It was something they can't block away from their minds, something that they can't ignore, something that simply won't get better.

"So, Nate, how did it go?" Alex asked Nate as he and his brothers walked out of the recording studio. She and Miley stood up from the steps of the building, waiting for their answer. The three boys looked at each other, wondering if they should be happy or not. Either way, someone was going to be distressed. "So was it good or bad?" Alex asked, a small amount of hope in her voice.

"Hollywood Records loved it. They'll fly us off to California in about a week." Jason said, giving the two girls a small smile.

"Oh." Miley and Alex said at the same time.

"Well congrats." Alex said, trying to look happy for them. Everyone could tell that it was forced.

"We'll meet you in the car, Nate." Shane said, patting his younger brother's back. He nodded his head in Alex and Miley's direction before he walked back to their car. Jason did the same and followed behind Shane. He glanced back at the three before he entered the car and sighed, still disappointed in Nate.

"So…what song did you sing?" Alex muttered.

"You know that that's not the last thing you want to tell me before I leave." Nate said.

"What's the point? You're still going to leave us." Miley replied for Alex.

"Guys…" Nate couldn't find any words to say. Once again he was speechless, stumped, simply wordless. Nate frowned and buried his hands in his pockets and gave the two girls a small smile. "Why don't we make this something to remember? So when we all make our…separate ways, we know that at least we spent our last moments together…happy." Nate forced out. He felt like he was about to choke on each word he said. Or break down.

"What do you have in mind?" Miley asked quietly.

"Let's have those days together. You and Alex have your girly 'Best Friend Days'. Maybe we could…"

"Have a Nate and Me Day?" Alex asked, a smile forming on her lips. Nate nodded sheepishly. Alex and Miley looked at each other for a second then immediately burst into fits of laughter. "Oh, god, do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?! Ha!" Alex laughed. She clutched her stomach and tried to breathe as her laughter overtook her small body. Miley turned red and was on the verge of tears as she couldn't stop laughing either.

"Nate and Me Day!" Miley repeated.

"Okay, okay, I get it, the title sounds stupid. But do you want to do that or not?" Nate asked, trying not to join in with the laughter. His lips twitched into a smile and his laughter was just short inches away from being released. Alex took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath while Miley covered her mouth, muffled laughs coming out of her.

"I guess we could…" Alex said, her bright and playful smirk on her lips again. Nate smiled at her, loving how he's beginning to see the old Alex in her again. Alex looked at Miley who finally stopped laughing. "But only if it's okay with Miley. I mean, doesn't that sound kind of wrong? Sharing you for a week? That screams out desperate, and I am _so_ not desperate." Alex scoffed, rolling her eyes. Nate rolled his eyes as well.

_Yeah, the annoying, self-absorbed, and infamous Alex Russo is definitely back. But at least it's the same girl who I fell in love with._ He thought.

"Alex is right. What will the people at school say when they know that we're sharing you? It's wrong, and it makes it seem like Alex and I are tramps." Miley said, folding her arms. Nate sighed and shrugged, looking like this was the only thing they could possibly do unless they want to spend their last week together living an unmemorable moment. Once they noticed Nate's look, Miley and Alex glanced at each other again. The two girls sighed at the same time. "But I guess we could do that…if the school doesn't know."

"Of course not!" Nate said. Miley and Alex smiled back at him. Nate sighed, finally a breath of hope instead of despair. He took his two girls in his arms and held onto them. He knew that he shouldn't, but he kissed both on their foreheads. "I love you." He muttered. Alex almost forgot that Nate wasn't talking to only her. Miley as well. The girls looked at each other before smiling weakly up at Nate.

Shane began to honk the horn on the car furiously. Nate's head shot up and he glared at the car, giving his brothers an annoyed look. Shane rolled his eyes and tapped on his watch impatiently. Nate rolled his eyes. "You better get a move on. Shane looks like he's ready to rip your head off." Alex laughed. Shane practically punched the horn this time as he saw that Nate hasn't moved an inch. Alex and Miley giggled.

"Ugh, he's an idiot. He's probably going to end up more of a jerk than he already is if he keeps this up." Nate said, shaking his head. He hugged each girl separately, making sure that he added enough passion into each one before he began to jog towards the car. "I'll see you guys at school!" he called behind his back. Alex and Miley nodded. They watched Nate's car drive out of the parking lot until it was entirely out of their view.

The second the car was officially gone, Alex and Miley turned to face each other. "We need to talk." They said simultaneously. "About Nate." They said in unison again. "You first." Alex smiled while Miley laughed silently.

"Okay, clearly we have the same idea in mind, so I'll just speak up." Alex said. Miley laughed again, this time a little bit louder. The two girls sat on the front steps of the small recording studio and looked at each other straight in the eye. "We both know that we love Nate enough to…actually trade off with him. I know I said that I don't like being desperate and that we don't want to seem like we're tramps, but let's face it. We're desperate and close to being called tramps."

"You got that right." Miley muttered, her uplifting mood fading away. She rested her chin on her palms and her elbows lay on her legs. "But what are we supposed to do? We can't hate each other, but we can't stop loving Nate. No matter what happens, it just ends in the same way. We. Share. Him."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Me neither."

"But it looks like this is the only thing we can do. God, why did we just _have_ to fall in love with the same guy?" Alex groaned. Miley sighed.

"Nate's just too perfect." She whispered. Alex nodded in agreement. Miley looked at Alex and frowned. "Do you think that he should…forget it." Miley looked down and sighed. Alex nudged Miley in the side until they were looking face-to-face with each other again.

"What? Tell me." Alex said. Miley made a face, not knowing if she should say it or not. "Come on, Miles, just tell me. I won't judge…well I won't try." Miley cracked a smile and sighed.

"Okay, I'll spill. It's just that I was wondering if…we should make Nate choose." Alex blinked at Miley, thunderstruck. Miley looked down at her legs again, feeling ashamed that she actually brought that up. "But…I mean…we love Nate enough to make him happy right? We all know that he shouldn't be allowed to be happy with _two_ girls. He only needs one…right?"

"Oh…so this is for Nate?" Alex asked sourly. _Yeah right. You probably just assume that Nate will chose you because you're the most sensitive human being on this planet and that you will cry your eyes out nonstop once Nate even _thinks_ of picking me. For Nate? More like for Miley. _

"Alex, I know it sounds selfish, but I'm trying to make it fair here. I love him enough that I can handle it if he picks you. I know you love him enough to get through with it if he picks me. But if you don't want to do that, then we'll just be living the rest of our lives known as the two girls who were obsessed with Nate Gray." Miley said, defending herself. She could tell in Alex's bitter eyes that she got the wrong impression. Alex huffed and folded her arms across her chest. Miley frowned angrily as she was growing more frustrated by the second. "You know what your problem is? You can't take the fact that you can't get everything you want. You always have to get everything, even if it means stealing that 'thing' from someone else."

"Excuse me?!" Alex stood up as her anger shot up through the scale. "Are you calling me a spoiled brat?!" Alex demanded. Miley stood up as well, her face not nearly as irritated as Alex's. She didn't answer but just merely shrugged. "Well you know what your problem is?! You can't handle the fact that I actually get whatever I want! You've been jealous of me ever since first grade!"

"What?!" Miley screeched. She had to plant her feet into the cement to stop her from slapping Alex across the face. "Look, we don't have a lot of time with each other. I just want to spend my whole entire time with this girl named Alex Russo who's my best friend since she's leaving me and I probably won't ever get to see her again. Not some bitch you're turning into." Miley said. Alex felt her insides just got stabbed again. She watched Miley walk down the stairs until she was out of sight as well.

Alex sighed and dropped back down on the stairs.

_Why? Seriously, why me?_ She thought.

OMJ

Miley sat on her couch, obviously depressed. She just buried her face into the pillow as she let out a series of frustrated groans and aggravated screams. Jackson walked downstairs and gave his sister an odd look. "I would ask what was wrong with you, but then I'm wondering if I care or not." He said as he sat next to his troubled little sister. Miley glared at him and smacked him with the pillow. "Ow! Okay, I'm really sure that I don't care now." He said, rubbing his arm. Miley frowned and looked down. Jackson knew that something important was up. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that-" Before Miley could finish her sentence, the doorbell rang. Jackson got up and opened the door to find Alex standing on their front porch, looking like a total mess. Alex's eyeliner was running down, her mascara was smudged; her lip gloss was fading away, and her blush looked like artificial color under the light.

"Oh, god, what happened to you? Did you forget how to use your makeup correctly?" Jackson laughed.

"Ha, funny. I'm guessing you forgot how to dress up like a regular teenage boy as well." Alex said, eyeing Jackson's attire snottily. Jackson stopped laughing and rolled his eyes. "But insulting your hideous outfit isn't the reason why I'm here. I need to talk to Miley." Alex said.

"She's pretty bummed out. I think she just wants alone time at the moment." Jackson said, his face actually serious right now. He glanced at his little sister before giving Alex a look. Alex almost kicked Jackson and tackled him on the floor as annoyance rose higher and higher inside of her.

"I don't freaking care! I need to freaking talk to her!" Alex yelled, loud enough for the whole block to hear her.

"Jeez, did you lose your pills or are you just PMS-ing?" Jackson rubbed his ears. Alex scowled and pushed Jackson aside. She quickly walked into the living room where she easily found Miley laying on the couch, staring idly at the blank TV. Jackson quickly trailed behind Alex. He was ready to throw her out forcefully if he had to. "Alex, do you seriously want me to call the cops?! Just because you're Miley's friend, doesn't mean that I won't! I'll seriously-"

"Oh, just shut up! Give me five minutes and I'm out of here! You're such an impatient prick!" Alex yelled at Jackson. Jackson cursed under his breath and walked upstairs to give the two girls some privacy. Alex sighed angrily and turned back to face Miley. She frowned once she saw the stressed look on her face. "Sorry you had to see me get all…loud." Alex said, laughing slightly. Miley turned on the other side and faced the direction opposite where Alex stood. "Miley, I'm sorry that I was a…bitch to you. I really am." Alex apologized.

"Yeah, and to my brother too." Miley muffled through the cushions.

"Oh please, I'm always mean to your brother. I've always had since I was six. You know some things can't change." Alex grinned. Miley turned to face Alex and stared at her emotionlessly.

"Funny. I thought you and Nate would always hate each other since you and Jackson seem like you'll kill each other if anyone ever left you two alone in a room. Amazing how things never change." She said sarcastically. Alex frowned and kneeled in front of Miley.

"I said _some_ things can't change. Miley, I'm really sorry that I'm this stuck up person with a big head and with major bitchy problems. But that's just who I am."

"No, you have a big head, yes, but you're not this major jerk. You're funny, you're encouraging, and you can be nice. You changed though. You changed a lot." Alex sighed and laid her head on Miley's legs.

"If it makes you feel better…we could ask Nate to choose before he leaves." Alex said. Miley raised an eyebrow.

"And you won't make a big deal about his decision?" she asked, no amount of trust in her voice. Alex raised her hand as if she was swearing to an oath.

"Promise." She said. "Now I think Nate owes us a Nate and Me Day." Alex smirked. Miley smiled and shook her head.

OMJ

Final words were said, final hugs, final kisses. They made sure that nothing was forgotten and nothing was missed. It was the end of their close relationship, and they were now ready to face the hardships of loneliness. Nate would go to Hollywood. Alex would go to New York. And Miley would stay in New Jersey. That was how it would end.

Shane and Jason went inside of the airport with their parents and other family members behind them. They were excited to get on the plane and fly all the way to the city of fame and success. Nate on the other hand was feeling the exact opposite. He was nervous, uptight, and paranoid. He felt like something will mess up and another thing will go terribly wrong.

He told his family that he would stay and wait out at the front of the airport because he needed to say goodbye to a couple of friends. Nate leaned back against the wall as he waited quietly for them. He looked at his watch every few seconds, thinking that they were either too despondent or too furious to come. Nate sighed and began to head towards the opening doors.

"Nate!" two voices yelled at the same time. Nate turned to find Miley and Alex running up to him. The two girls ran into his arms and hugged him securely.

"God, I thought we were going to be late!" Alex said, panting for air.

"The traffic was horrible!" Miley said, giving Nate an excuse for their short absence.

"It's fine. I'm just glad that you two are actually here." Nate muffled into their hair. He kissed them both lightly on the head and squeezed them tightly in his arms. "I can't believe that I have to go…" he whispered.

"Well believe it because your flight is in thirty minutes." Alex said, glancing at the clock in front of the airport. She released herself from Nate. "We don't want to be the reason why you'll miss your plane, and you'll never get your shot at being a popstar." Nate gave her a look. "Oh, sorry, I mean _rockstar_." Alex quickly corrected herself. Nate smirked and laughed. Miley stood by her side and looked at Alex, implying her something. Alex nodded.

"What? Am I missing something?" Nate asked.

"It's just that…we were wondering…now that you're going to leave us and all…" Miley started. Nate looked back and forth between the two. Miley and Alex quickly looked at each other before the stared back at Nate. "If you had to choose between us, who would you pick?"

Nate frowned. He absolutely _hated_ that question. He hated that choice. He wished there was an alternative to this so that everyone was happy. But there was no other way out.

"I thought I told you this already. You both know I can't choose between you two. It's impossible for me." Nate said.

"But if you _had_ to." Miley persisted. Nate sighed. He knew that Miley really wanted the answer to this, and so did Alex. Even if she wasn't saying anything, Nate could tell from the way her eyes looked eager, she wanted an answer just as bad as Miley does. "Who would your choice be?"

"So I can't pick both?" Nate asked. Miley and Alex shook their heads no. Nate sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Then I guess I'd pick neither." Miley's eyes widened with shock while Alex's mouth dropped open. "I mean, I can't stand hurting the both of you. I can't choose both since there'll be a huge amount of controversy. I can't choose one of you because I can't handle hurting the other. So I pick neither since that's the only fair way."

"B-but you c-can't! Surely, you love one more than the other!" Miley stammered.

"Well I don't. I love both of you equally and entirely." Nate whispered. He took a glimpse at the clock and sighed. "My parents are probably worrying about me now. I have to get inside of the airport before the plane leaves without me." He said in a low voice. Miley nodded her head while Alex looked down.

Nate sighed. He took Miley in his arms first and gave her a deep kiss. Alex practically felt like she was standing in fire as she watched them kiss. Seconds later, Nate pulled away. He then looked at Alex and smiled at her. He almost instantly grabbed her hand and pulled her into another kiss, a lighter kiss though, but a more passionate kiss than lust-filled one. Sadly, he pulled away as well.

"I am sorry that I hurt you so much. I'm sorry that I'll have to hurt you even more once I leave." Nate repeated. He placed a hand on each of the girls' arm. "But just remember that I will never love another girl as much as I ever loved both of you." He said. Alex's heart shattered while Miley's insides ached. "Goodbye." Nate gave them a small smile before he walked through the airport doors.

Then he was gone.

Alex buried herself into Miley's arms and bawled her eyes out. Miley cried along with her too as she embraced her best friend. That one sentence Nate just said replayed over and over in their heads. It was like a broken record player that did nothing but repeat that once phrase. _But just remember that I will never love another girl as much as I ever loved both of you_

And that was Nate's choice.

Neither of them.

**A/N: Oh god, sorry for the delay. Instead of listing the bunch of excuses, I'll make it short and sweet: I was busy, and my laptop has another stupid virus.  
Anyways, this chapter signifies the end of Nate's Choice! Well, technically. I'll have the epilogue posted as soon as possible. I was hoping that I kept you guys wondering who Nate would pick! Obviously not Miley, but I never really clarified if Nate would choose Alex or not. I'm sorry this ended on a sad note, and the epilogue probably will too, but this is supposed to be a sad story anyways.  
Oh, and by the way, this is the longest chapter I've posted up for this story! And the last chapter had the most reviews! I want to thank you guys for being such awesome people and reviewing! Reviews always encourage authors to continue to write :)**


	10. Epilogue

_"You'll find its going to be okay, because loves is on its way."_  
Love Is On Its Way by Jonas Brothers

As the years passed by, their hearts healed. Miley and Alex couldn't say whether or not they were over Nate, and Nate couldn't say if he was still in love with Miley and Alex or not, but at their hearts weren't broken anymore. There were no more tears, sobs, whines, or regrets. They felt no more heartache but just the feeling of lonesome.

They were all completely separate from each other. Nate was still living in Hollywood, pursuing his dreams. People couldn't go through any street in southern California without seeing the name 'Connect 3' everywhere. Alex's family moved to New York so that she could follow her own dream of becoming an artist. For once in her life, she was top in her class – in the Fine Arts Academy. Then for Miley, she and her family moved back to their hometown in Tennessee, just to start over again and live a different life.

So many miles away, but so many memories the fill up the space.

They wouldn't really speak much of each other. It's not like Alex would tell her new friends, _'back in New Jersey, I stole my best friend's boyfriend_'. Miley wouldn't say, '_my best friend from New Jersey and I shared the same boy'._ And Nate would definitely not tell anyone,_ I was so in love with two girls that I cheated on them for a while_. Alex would be shunned, Miley would be treated poorly, and the media and paparazzi will be all over Nate. So they kept their mouths closed when it came to their past and just let those memories linger in their minds.

But Nate had the urge to change that.

OMJ

"Hey, Alex, why don't you like Connect 3?" Harper, Alex's best friend in New York, questioned curiously. Alex choked on her drink. She patted her chest while she coughed. Harper gave Alex a confused look. "Are you okay?" she asked, more puzzled than concerned. Alex cleared her throat and nodded her head.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She said, setting her drink down on the table in front of her. "So the weather's looking pretty nice today." Alex said, glancing out of the window. Harper squinted at Alex, getting more perplexed by the second.

"Okay? Anyways, why don't you like Connect 3?"

"Since when did I say that?" Alex asked.

"Well, every time they're on TV, you change the channel. When one of their songs is playing on the radio, you switch the station. When their name even pops up in a conversation, you leave. Do you hate them?" Harper asked. Alex scoffed and gave Harper a look.

"I don't hate them, Harper." She said.

_How could I hate them? How could I hate him?_

"Then why don't you like them?" Harper pressed.

"Why does it matter? They're just a bunch of pretty boy popstars who sing and dance for the pleasure of females around the world. This conversation is pointless." Alex said, standing up. Harper grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down on the couch.

"Alex, I want to know because…well…" Harper didn't bother finishing her sentence. Instead, she changed the channel that viewed Connect 3.

OMJ

"Oh, my god, Miley did you hear the new Connect 3-"

"Lily, I swear to god, if you bring that band up one more time, I'm going to break into your house and steal all of your favorite shoes." Miley threatened. Her best friend in Tennessee, Lily, laughed and shook her head. "I'm serious! I will actually break into your house and-"

"Miley, if you just listen to me about Connect-"

"La-la-la-la!" Miley sang. She plugged her ears and closed her eyes. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Lily rolled her eyes and pulled Miley's hands from her ears. Miley gave Lily a dangerous look. "You better not say their name." she said.

"Connect…" Lily said slowly. She smirked at Miley's steaming face.

"Lily, I'm not kidding."

"Thr…" Lily said, pausing in ever letter. She closed her mouth for a second. Miley sighed and finally relaxed back. "Three!"

"Lily!"

"I just want to show you something! God, Miley, you don't have to be so overdramatic. I know you don't like them that much and all, but still, this is _really_ important. You need to hear their new song." Lily said, grabbing the remote and flipping through the channels until she got to a certain one. Miley rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest once she saw Connect 3 on TV.

"Give me one good reason why I should listen to _Connect 3's_ new song?" Miley muttered.

"Oh, I could give you a really good reason."

OMJ

"And here we are today with Connect 3 and their new song!" the host said. A loud cheer of applause came from the audience that consisted of teenage girls. Shane and Jason smiled widely at them, waving happily. Nate, on the other hand, quietly sat down and smiled weakly at the audience. He stared intensely at everyone before looking back at the host. Jason and Shane had their guitars in hands, ready to play, while Nate sat down in front of the piano, staring at the white and black keys in front of him. "So, what's this song called?"

Shane and Jason looked at Nate, waiting for him to speak up. Nate gulped and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He slowly opened them and gave the host a small smile. "It's called _Love Is On Its Way_." He said, his voice almost in a whisper. The host nodded, interested.

"And can you tell us what this song is about?"

"Well…when I was young…I was in love. The bad part about that, I was in love with two girls – who also happened to be best friends. I couldn't love one more than the other. I couldn't have both of them, but I didn't want just one of them. I love them so much, but I ended up hurting them when I left. This song is just about how I wasn't worth it. I wasn't worth their tears, their love…I wasn't worth it. I just want them to be happy, to find another guy who is worth it. They might think I'm crazy, or they might agree with me. But all I want to say to them is that…their real love is on its way."

Nate was close to tears. Shane and Jason looked at their little brother sympathetically, hoping that he wouldn't start crying. Nate took another deep breath and smiled. "So, Alex, Miley, this one is for you."

_Young hearts,  
I believe that we are not far,  
From becoming who we truly are,  
Love is on its way_

_Dreamers you see everything in color,  
While the world is getting darker,  
Love is on its way...  
So hold on another day, 'cause love is on its way  
You'll find its going to be okay, because loves is on its way_

_It alright you'll find a brighter day  
'Cause love is on its way  
Oh..._

_Leaders, show us how to love each other,  
It could help us to recover  
Love is on its way_

_Lonely, I believe that you will find me..  
And together we will truly see.  
Love is on its way.. Yea  
So hold on another day, 'cause love is on it ok  
You'll find it going to be okay...  
Alright you'll find a brighter day,  
'Cause love is on its way._

_Yea…Hold on another day 'cause love s on its way,  
You'll find its going to be okay  
Its alright you'll find_

_'Cause love is on its way  
'Cause love is on its  
'Cause love is on its...way_

OMJ

"Oh…" Miley whispered. She bit her lip as tears began to escaped from her eyes. Miley smiled and she started to giggle. "That's Nate for ya." She added, shaking her head. "So sweet and sappy."

"So…he's actually talking about you? And that Alex girl…she used to be your best friend?" Lily asked. Miley nodded. "Wow. What. A. Player." Lily said, rolling her eyes at Nate. Miley gasped and smacked Lily's arm with the pillow.

"Nate isn't a player! He just happened to…fall in love with me and…Alex."

"It's still not right."

"Since when is love ever right?"

OMJ

Alex's throat closed up, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. Alex didn't attempt to wipe her tears this time. She wasn't crying over sadness, she was crying over happiness. This was the song Nate played for her the first time she went to his house. Even if he played the guitar that time and was playing the piano this time, and he hummed the lyrics before, Alex knew that this was the song he played for her. The song the he wouldn't let anyone else hear. The song that he hasn't finished writing yet.

And now, he finished it and dedicated it to her...and Miley.

"So…do you like Connect 3?" Harper asked, giving Alex a small smile.

"No, I love them." Alex said.

**A/N: And there you have it! Nate's Choice is officially over! I'm sorry that the epilogue was really short. Anyways, I'm not the kind of person who writes long epilogues, but I still hope that you guys will still enjoy this! Oh, and please check out my new Smitchie story called **Sing For Me One More Time**. It'll make my day if you guys like it as much as you liked this one!  
One more thing, _thank you so much_ for all the reviews and sweet words you said! If it wasn't for you guys, I would have easily given up on this story. Thank you!  
**


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